Open AccessDynamic emergency department response to the evolving COVID‐19 pandemic: the experience of a tertiary hospital in Singapore
Author(s) -
Liu Zhenghong,
Teo Tess Lin,
Lim Mian Jie,
Nadarajan Gayathri Devi,
Segaram Shashi SO Chandra,
Thangarajoo Sanda,
Wee Liang En,
Wee Jeremy Choon Peng,
Tan Kenneth Boon Kiat
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of the american college of emergency physicians open
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2688-1152
DOI - 10.1002/emp2.12264
Subject(s) - pandemic , emergency department , covid-19 , medical emergency , epidemiology , emergency response , medicine , emergency management , emergency medicine , disease , infectious disease (medical specialty) , economic growth , nursing , economics , pathology
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic has placed large stressors on emergency departments (EDs) worldwide. As the pandemic progressed, EDs faced changing patient epidemiology and numbers. Our ED needed to rapidly transform to deal with the risk of COVID‐19. Having limited floor space, we opted for a phased, dynamic response that allowed us to adapt the ED multiple times as the epidemiology of the pandemic evolved. The principles behind our response include guiding ED operations with data, enhancing infection control practices, and being prepared to transform areas of the ED to care for different groups of patients. Our experience can serve to guide other EDs in planning their response to surge capacity and ED operations during such pandemics.