The Battle Against Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): Emergency Management and Infection Control in a Radiology Department

Huang, Zixing; Zhao, Shuang; Li, Zhenlin; Chen, Weixia; Zhao, Lihong; Deng, Lipeng; Song, Bin

OBJECTIVE: To describe the strategy and the emergency management and infection control procedure of our radiology department during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak. METHODS: We set up emergency management and sensing control teams. The team formulated various measures: reconfiguration of the radiology department, personal protection and training of staff, examination procedures for patients suspected of or confirmed with COVID-19 as well as patients without an exposure history or symptoms. Those with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 infection were scanned in the designated fever-CT unit. RESULTS: From January 21, 2020, to March 9, 2020, 3,083 people suspected or confirmed to be infected with COVID-19 underwent fever-CT examinations. Including initial examinations and re-examinations, the total number of fever-CT examinations numbered 3,340. As a result of our precautions, none of the staff of the radiology department were infected with COVID-19. CONCLUSION: Strategic planning and adequate protections can help protect patients and staff against a highly infectious disease while maintaining function at a high-volume capacity.