Bracing for impact: operational upshots from the National Centre for Infectious Diseases Screening Centre (Singapore) during the COVID‐19 outbreak
Abstract To combat the ongoing COVID‐19 pandemic, Singapore has adopted a rigorous screening approach that involves aggressive contact tracing, rapid isolation of confirmed or suspect cases, and immediate ring‐fencing of emerging local clusters and hotspots. Our screening centre team has been involv...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2020-08-01
|
| Series: | Journal of the American College of Emergency Physicians Open |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/emp2.12134 |
| _version_ | 1826574782636752896 |
|---|---|
| author | Charmaine Malenab Manauis Marvin Loh James Kwan John Chua Mingzhou Han Jie Teo David Teng Kuan Peng Shawn Vasoo Sushilan Yee Sin Leo Ang Hou |
| author_facet | Charmaine Malenab Manauis Marvin Loh James Kwan John Chua Mingzhou Han Jie Teo David Teng Kuan Peng Shawn Vasoo Sushilan Yee Sin Leo Ang Hou |
| author_sort | Charmaine Malenab Manauis |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract To combat the ongoing COVID‐19 pandemic, Singapore has adopted a rigorous screening approach that involves aggressive contact tracing, rapid isolation of confirmed or suspect cases, and immediate ring‐fencing of emerging local clusters and hotspots. Our screening centre team has been involved in running Singapore's designated screening centre since the end of January this year. With a well‐defined blueprint and substantial pre‐outbreak preparatory work, initial operations at our screening centre commenced within a day on activation and full operational status was attained in 3 days. As of 8 April 2020, the screening centre had screened more than 14,000 patients. We have adopted a “whole‐of‐hospital” approach, enlisting the help from other departments and subspecialties to augment manpower. Meticulous infrastructure planning to facilitate patient flow and strict measures to prevent nosocomial transmission and occupational exposure were instituted to safeguard both the staff and patients. This paper aims to describe our key takeaways in the course of operations and discuss the challenges encountered. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-10T21:31:27Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-848720c126bf438b9d4c8332b6c74dbf |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2688-1152 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-03-14T13:04:17Z |
| publishDate | 2020-08-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of the American College of Emergency Physicians Open |
| spelling | doaj.art-848720c126bf438b9d4c8332b6c74dbf2025-03-02T01:48:48ZengElsevierJournal of the American College of Emergency Physicians Open2688-11522020-08-011454955610.1002/emp2.12134Bracing for impact: operational upshots from the National Centre for Infectious Diseases Screening Centre (Singapore) during the COVID‐19 outbreakCharmaine Malenab Manauis0Marvin Loh1James Kwan2John Chua Mingzhou3Han Jie Teo4David Teng Kuan Peng5Shawn Vasoo Sushilan6Yee Sin Leo7Ang Hou8Emergency Department Tan Tock Seng Hospital SingaporeEmergency Department Tan Tock Seng Hospital SingaporeEmergency Department Tan Tock Seng Hospital SingaporeEmergency Department Tan Tock Seng Hospital SingaporeEmergency Department Tan Tock Seng Hospital SingaporeEmergency Department Tan Tock Seng Hospital SingaporeNational Centre for Infectious Diseases SingaporeNational Centre for Infectious Diseases SingaporeEmergency Department Tan Tock Seng Hospital SingaporeAbstract To combat the ongoing COVID‐19 pandemic, Singapore has adopted a rigorous screening approach that involves aggressive contact tracing, rapid isolation of confirmed or suspect cases, and immediate ring‐fencing of emerging local clusters and hotspots. Our screening centre team has been involved in running Singapore's designated screening centre since the end of January this year. With a well‐defined blueprint and substantial pre‐outbreak preparatory work, initial operations at our screening centre commenced within a day on activation and full operational status was attained in 3 days. As of 8 April 2020, the screening centre had screened more than 14,000 patients. We have adopted a “whole‐of‐hospital” approach, enlisting the help from other departments and subspecialties to augment manpower. Meticulous infrastructure planning to facilitate patient flow and strict measures to prevent nosocomial transmission and occupational exposure were instituted to safeguard both the staff and patients. This paper aims to describe our key takeaways in the course of operations and discuss the challenges encountered.https://doi.org/10.1002/emp2.12134 |
| spellingShingle | Charmaine Malenab Manauis Marvin Loh James Kwan John Chua Mingzhou Han Jie Teo David Teng Kuan Peng Shawn Vasoo Sushilan Yee Sin Leo Ang Hou Bracing for impact: operational upshots from the National Centre for Infectious Diseases Screening Centre (Singapore) during the COVID‐19 outbreak Journal of the American College of Emergency Physicians Open |
| title | Bracing for impact: operational upshots from the National Centre for Infectious Diseases Screening Centre (Singapore) during the COVID‐19 outbreak |
| title_full | Bracing for impact: operational upshots from the National Centre for Infectious Diseases Screening Centre (Singapore) during the COVID‐19 outbreak |
| title_fullStr | Bracing for impact: operational upshots from the National Centre for Infectious Diseases Screening Centre (Singapore) during the COVID‐19 outbreak |
| title_full_unstemmed | Bracing for impact: operational upshots from the National Centre for Infectious Diseases Screening Centre (Singapore) during the COVID‐19 outbreak |
| title_short | Bracing for impact: operational upshots from the National Centre for Infectious Diseases Screening Centre (Singapore) during the COVID‐19 outbreak |
| title_sort | bracing for impact operational upshots from the national centre for infectious diseases screening centre singapore during the covid 19 outbreak |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/emp2.12134 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT charmainemalenabmanauis bracingforimpactoperationalupshotsfromthenationalcentreforinfectiousdiseasesscreeningcentresingaporeduringthecovid19outbreak AT marvinloh bracingforimpactoperationalupshotsfromthenationalcentreforinfectiousdiseasesscreeningcentresingaporeduringthecovid19outbreak AT jameskwan bracingforimpactoperationalupshotsfromthenationalcentreforinfectiousdiseasesscreeningcentresingaporeduringthecovid19outbreak AT johnchuamingzhou bracingforimpactoperationalupshotsfromthenationalcentreforinfectiousdiseasesscreeningcentresingaporeduringthecovid19outbreak AT hanjieteo bracingforimpactoperationalupshotsfromthenationalcentreforinfectiousdiseasesscreeningcentresingaporeduringthecovid19outbreak AT davidtengkuanpeng bracingforimpactoperationalupshotsfromthenationalcentreforinfectiousdiseasesscreeningcentresingaporeduringthecovid19outbreak AT shawnvasoosushilan bracingforimpactoperationalupshotsfromthenationalcentreforinfectiousdiseasesscreeningcentresingaporeduringthecovid19outbreak AT yeesinleo bracingforimpactoperationalupshotsfromthenationalcentreforinfectiousdiseasesscreeningcentresingaporeduringthecovid19outbreak AT anghou bracingforimpactoperationalupshotsfromthenationalcentreforinfectiousdiseasesscreeningcentresingaporeduringthecovid19outbreak |