Mitchell SL, Mitchell TA, Horwitz-Willis N, Alptunaer TN, Gipson JA, Shackelford SA. Multi-disciplinary Leadership to Mitigate COVID-19 in an Austere West African Military Environment.
Mil Med 2022;
188:usac045. [PMID:
35262696 DOI:
10.1093/milmed/usac045]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2021] [Revised: 01/31/2022] [Accepted: 02/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION
The COVID-19 pandemic created challenges for forward-deployed military units to Western Africa. Austere military environments afford multiple avenues to transmit COVID-19 amongst service members.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
A COVID-19 outbreak on a military base in Western Africa spanning over 100 days is statistically analyzed using a Pearson's correlation coefficient. Furthermore, a COVID-19 reproductive number (R0) is evaluated to examine the relationship between specific command-directed policies to mitigate COVID-19 transmission.
RESULTS
The multidisciplinary partnership of military command, medical, and public health leadership implemented evidence-based and epidemiologically informed COVID-19 preventive base-wide policies, including appropriate isolation/quarantine policies. The R0 for the outbreak was 0.03 and remained <1 for the outbreak duration. This base remained COVID-19 free for multiple weeks after policy implementation.
CONCLUSIONS
The implementation of practical mitigating base-wide policies through seamless communication between military command/medical/public health leadership resolved the COVID-19 outbreak while maintaining mission readiness. Weekly COVID-19 testing epidemiological data may be utilized by commanders to direct further decision-making on tightening/loosening base-wide policy restrictions for continued mission-essential operations, e.g., security, food service, or airfield operations.
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