Article Text
Abstract
In the face of the COVID-19 outbreak, military healthcare teams were deployed to London to assist the London Ambulance Service t transfer ventilated patients between medical facilities. This paper describes the preparation and activity of these military teams, records the lessons identified (LI) and reviews the complications encountered’. The teams each had two members. A consultant or registrar in emergency medicine (EM) and pre-hospitalemergency medicine (PHEM)E or anaesthesia and an emergency nurse or paramedic. Following a period of training, the teams undertook 52 transfers over a 14-day period. LI centred around minimising both interruption to ventilation and risk of aerosolisation of infectious particles and thus the risk of transmission of COVID-19 to the treating clinicians. Three patient-related complications (6% of all transfers) were identified. This was the first occasion on which the Defence Medical Services (DMS) were the main focus of a large-scale clinical military aid to the civil authorities. It demonstrated that DMS personnel have the flexibility to deliver a novel effect and the ability to seamlessly and rapidly integrate with a civilian organisation. It highlighted some clinical lessons that may be useful for future prehospital emergency care taskings where patients may have a transmissible respiratory pathogen. It also showed that clinicians from different backgrounds are able to safely undertake secondary transfer of ventilated patients. This approacmay enhance flexibility in future operational patient care pathways.
- intensive & critical care
- accident & emergency medicine
- adult anaesthesia
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Footnotes
Twitter @EmergencyDoc209
Correction notice This article has been corrected since it appeared Online First. Main title has been changed from '20 April' to 'April 2020' for clarity.
Contributors RHJ conceived the study. CPD acquired the data. RHJ and DJC analysed and interpreted the data. RHJ drafted the manuscript. RHJ, CPD and DJC amended and approved the manuscript. All authors approved the work and accept accountability for the content.
Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
Competing interests None declared.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; internally peer reviewed.