WCH Preps for Worst Case Scenario
New Equipment for Covid-19: An intubation box, or aerosol box, protects staff from air being forced out when people are being hooked up to a ventilator.
By Travis Volz
Healthcare workers at Washington County Hospital took to the tent last week to train for a worst-case scenario in the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
“If a surge in cases came to the area, we’d have to move some operations to the tent,” said Stacie Hodge, director of nursing at WCH.
Plans for handling a possible influx of cases to the hospital include isolating areas within the hospital while using the tent in the hospital’s south parking lot to evaluate patients for where to send them.
“Our plan right now is to split the hospital into two areas,” Hodge said. “Any non-respiratory patients would go into the old obstetrics area, and people with trouble breathing would go to the emergency room.”
Employees walked through scenarios in the tent last week for the first time. The tent went up last month, and staff has been working on procedures to keep patients and staff safe during the pandemic.
Read the full story in this week’s issue.
