The journey of epidemic prevention -- the response and disposal of Far Eastern Memorial Hospital in the face of epidemic.

        In this wave of covid-19 epidemic, Far Eastern Memorial Hospital set many records, including 58 dedicated ICUs in just 12 days and undertaking 11% of the number of patients in critical condition in Taiwan, which received the epidemic command center’s praise. So Far Eastern Memorial Hospital became famous, Vice President Qiu Guanming recently accepted the invitation of Ministry of Health and Welfare to share Far Eastern Memorial Hospital's experience in emerging infectious diseases in the online course " clinical disposal of critical novel coronavirus case ".

        Willpower and imagination are your superpowers

        In May this year, after a number of local group infections occurred in Taiwan, medical hospitals have quietly begun to count their resources. Subsequently, the number of confirmed cases soared, and the whole Taiwan has been on the level 3 alert. Referring to the integration and distribution of resources in the early stage of the epidemic, vice president Qiu Guanming said, "resources must be limited, but the will or imagination can be infinite."

        Dedicated to ICU reconstruction, rapid response of expansion of the bed number, and mixed marshalling of medical manpower to maximize effectiveness

        Since early March 2020, Far Eastern Memorial Hospital has established an inter departmental covid-19 response team, which is mainly responsible for personnel and resource inventory. In September last year, 16 intensive care beds for each person in each room were prepared, of which 10 beds have not even been used. In order to make the environment of the 10 wards reach micro negative pressure, each ward is specially equipped with two exhaust fans, and the correct exhaust direction is confirmed by air flow detection.

        After learning of the outbreak of the local epidemic, Far Eastern Memorial Hospital quickly started a large number of treatment of high-risk infectious diseases, planned the moving line of intensive care ward, counted the backup beds and adjusted manpower, and dispatched instruments and equipment. After the use of 10 intensive care beds on May 18, a large number of confirmed patients poured in, and the occupancy rate of the beds rapidly rose to 80%. Sufficient standby capacity has become the key to whether the hospital can fight against the epidemic for a long time.

        Vice President Qiu Guanming recalled, "we considered the shortage of internal space in the original ward,  so we planned to introduce external space and bring the adjacent public areas into the scope of the special ward." To this end, the team uses wooden compartments to separate the work area, buffer area and living area of the special intensive care unit. By May 30, the total number of beds in the special intensive care unit had risen to 58, far exceeding the number of 20 beds required by the Ministry of Health and Welfare. The number of admitted in the special intensive care unit reached 51 in early June.

        In terms of staffing, Far Eastern Memorial Hospital broke the barriers of various departments and categories. In addition to recalling 15 attending doctors in the intensive care unit, 18 residents in the internal medicine department and surgery department also joined the team, it also counted 43 specialists with critical care qualification and 56 deputy chief nurses and nurses with intensive care unit training and experience in the other units together with 26 specialist nurses and 20 suction therapists to expand the number of the team.

        Scheduling and procurement of epidemic prevention materials and equipment, let oxygen not become a luxury of epidemic situation

        To win this battle, in addition to ward facilities and health care manpower, materials and equipment are also indispensable. On the one hand, Far Eastern Memorial Hospital made an inventory of the hospital's inhalers, rhythm regulators and other equipment. On the other hand, urgently purchase of equipment that can meet the needs of various inhaled care was arranged. However, regular material replenishment may not be able to meet a large number of needs in time. Therefore, the joint procurement center also assisted Far Eastern Memorial Hospital to make purchase. " We use a lot of resources to procure, but the soaring price of medical materials was just like share price. " Vice President Qiu Guanming recalled.

        Hospital’s epidemic prevention: vaccination and screening capacity

        Little is known about this hard process of fighting against the epidemic. It was not until Luo Yijun, deputy head of the epidemic command center, sent a message on Facebook that everyone found that in fact, the numbers of patients that Far Eastern Memorial Hospital can receive far exceed that of other peers. " It is not because we want to be the first, but because Far Eastern Memorial Hospital is located in the center area of Banqiao and it is of urgent needs. " As of mid of June, the two centralized quarantine centers undertaken by Far Eastern Memorial Hospital, 1014 confirmed cases had been treated, accounting for about one fifth of the confirmed cases in New Taipei City and one tenth of that in Taiwan.

        The amazing capacity makes many people ask that what kind of confidence Far Eastern Memorial Hospital has to stand more stable after nosocomial infection? In fact, the novel coronavirus pneumonia vaccination rate in the hospital has reached 50% in the early stage of the outbreak of local disease, and it is even closer to 95% in mid of June.

        In addition, Far Eastern Memorial Hospital has not been absent from the screening and vaccination planned by the government. Before Taipei and New Taipei entered the level III, the vaccination of Far Eastern Memorial Hospital accounted for one third of that of New Taipei City, and the nucleic acid detection once accounted for one eighth of the national volume. The best example to show the screening capacity of Far Eastern Memorial Hospital was to complete the rapid screening of 3627 employees in the fruit and vegetable market of New Taipei City in one day and the PCR sampling of 2785 people in the Huannan market of Taipei.

        "Will and attitude determine your speed." Vice President Qiu Guanming stressed. During the epidemic period, the response and disposal of the hospital is not only the rapid preparation of the personnel and facilities in the intensive care unit, but also the whole hospital. Especially after the load reduction of some departments, the personnel need re-purposing so that everyone can participate in epidemic prevention. From admitting confirmed patients in the hospital to going out to the community, the footprints of the team have spread all over many administrative regions of New Taipei City, and all staff continue to work in different posts to contribute to the fight against the epidemic!

        #