Coignard-Biehler H, Rapp C, Chapplain JM, Hoen B, Che D, Berthelot P, Cazenave-Roblot F, Rabaud C, Brouqui P, Leport C. The French Infectious Diseases Society's readiness and response to epidemic or biological risk-the current situation following the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus and Ebola virus disease alerts.
Med Mal Infect 2017;
48:95-102. [PMID:
29169817 PMCID:
PMC7125712 DOI:
10.1016/j.medmal.2017.10.002]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2016] [Revised: 08/09/2017] [Accepted: 10/02/2017] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Abstract
CONTEXT
In 2012, the French Infectious Diseases Society (French acronym SPILF) initiated the "Coordination of epidemic and biological risk" (SPILF-COREB - Emergences [SCE]) group to support the readiness and response of healthcare workers (HCWs) to new alerts.
OBJECTIVE
To present the SCE group, its functioning, and the main support it provided for frontline HCWs.
METHODS
A multidisciplinary group of heads of infectious disease departments from reference hospitals was created to build a network of clinical expertise for care, training, and research in the field of epidemic and biological risk (EBR). The network developed a set of standardized operational procedures (SOPs) to guide interventions to manage EBR-suspect patients.
RESULTS
A working group created the SOP aimed at frontline HCWs taking care of patients. Priority was given to the development of a generic procedure, which was then adapted according to the current alert. Five key steps were identified and hierarchized: detecting, protecting, caring for, alerting, and referring the EBR patient. The interaction between clinicians and those responsible for the protection of the community was crucial. The SOPs validated by the SPILF and its affiliates were disseminated to a wide range of key stakeholders through various media including workshops and the SPILF's website.
CONCLUSION
SPILF can easily adapt and timely mobilize the EBR expertise in case of an alert. The present work suggests that sharing and discussing this experience, initiated at the European level, can generate a new collective expertise and needs to be further developed and strengthened.
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