COVID-19 pandemic: Preparation of the department of anesthesiology and pain medicine in a tertiary care hospital of a low income country
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic -, a global health crisis has come as a great challenge to even the most advanced healthcare systems around the world. Pakistan has a poorly developed healthcare infrastructure to effectively cope with the pandemic.
In view of this, it was appropriate to anticipate that Pakistan’s state of preparedness might prove to be inadequate if and when the disease became rampant. It was also important to note that countries which prepared preemptively for the crisis and responded timely were able to cope with it better than others. This realization prompted a need for formulation of a strategy to manage the fallout expected from a high number of COVID-19 cases.
Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Center (SKMCH & RC) is a research-based tertiary care center in a low resource-income country. Having previous experience in devising strategic healthcare guidelines, we at SKMCH & RC created a comprehensive plan for the department of anesthesia and pain medicine, with the specific aim of improving our ability to deal with the ongoing crisis. We believed that our plan might be applied across the region, where limited availability of resources is a common theme.
The plan of action was divided into three phases: planning, preparation and implementation. A team of anesthetists was formed and tasked with performing a thorough review of international guidelines and literature on the subject. The next step was to compile the findings and create tailored solutions for successful application in a resource-poor environment. The report further explains the procurement and mobilization of necessary resources at the hospital level as warranted by the plan. Lastly, the report shares knowledge on how the plan was practically implemented across operating rooms and intensive care units at SKMCH & RC.
It is hoped that this review will enable low-budget healthcare facilities to implement and benefit from our plan.
Citation: Khan SA, Ahmed WN, Chatha MH, Khan AA, Khan AW. COVID-19 pandemic: Preparation of the department of anesthesiology and pain medicine in a tertiary care hospital of a low income country. Anaesth. pain intensive care 2020;24(4):440-449.
Received: 9 July 2020, Reviewed: 31 July 2020, Revised: 10 August 2020, Accepted: 10 August 2020
