The European Respiratory Society course on acute respiratory pandemics: how to plan for and manage them

Adeoti, Adekunle Olatayo; Marbus, Sierk

In another lecture, the need to escalate medical provision within the hospital and the value of a checklist for pandemic preparedness was emphasised [10] . This checklist will help hospitals set up regulations and protocols on essential issues such as communication, surge capacity, logistics, case management, surveillance and scale-up of laboratory services. During outbreaks of severe acute respiratory infections, intensive care units (ICUs) are often fully occupied; L. Derde gave an overview on the ICU perspective on conducting research and management in critical cases during a pandemic. Special attention was paid to children during pandemics by P. Fraaji, as they may be worst hit due to their relatively low immune response to infectious agents. Furthermore, J. Buchanan stated the vital role played by an effective primary healthcare facility in the event of an outbreak. She also stressed the need for training and retraining of healthcare personnel in the use of personal protective equipment as basic as gloves and facemasks.