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Observational Study
. 2021 Mar 3;47(1):47.
doi: 10.1186/s13052-021-00996-8.

Impact of novel coronavirus Disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic in Italian pediatric emergency departments: a national survey

Valentina Talarico  1 , Luciano Pinto  2 , Gian Luigi Marseglia  3 , Antonella Centonze  4 , Concetta Cristofaro  5 , Rocco Reina  5 , Agostino Nocerino  6 , Riccardo Lubrano  7 , Stefania Zampogna  8 ; SIMEUP research group
Collaborators, Affiliations
Observational Study

Impact of novel coronavirus Disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic in Italian pediatric emergency departments: a national survey

Valentina Talarico et al. Ital J Pediatr. .

Abstract

Background: Coronavirus Disease-19 (COVID-19) has rapidly become a pandemic emergency, distressing health systems in each affected country. Preparation strategies for managing this pandemic have been keys to face the COVID-19 surge all over the world and all levels of care.

Materials and methods: During the epidemic, the Italian society of pediatric emergency-urgency (SIMEUP) promoted a national survey aiming to evaluate preparedness and response of pediatric emergency departments (PED) critical in ensuring optimal management of COVID-19 cases.

Results: Our results suggest that Italian PED have promptly set a proactive approach to the present emergency. 98.9% of the hospitals have defined special pathways and assistive protocols concerning the management of pediatric COVID-19 cases. The highest percentage of application of the measures for preventive and protective for COVID-19 concerned the use of personal protective equipments.

Conclusions: Results show that the following measures for pediatric patients, admitted in PED, have been promptly implemented throughout the whole country: eg. use of protective devices, pre-triage of patients accessing the hospital. Despite COVID-19 being a new threat, we have shown that by developing an easy-to-follow decision algorithm and clear plans for the interventional platform teams, we can ensure optimal health care workers and patients' safety.

Keywords: COVID-19; Healthcare workers; Pediatric emergency; Personal protective equipment.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interests with respect to the authorship and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Creation of specific areas in PED
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Application of protective and preventive measures for COVID-19
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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