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Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) has very high rates of hospital-related transmission among healthcare workers (HCWs), mandating the need for careful intensive care unit (ICU) designing, optimization of staff resources, implementation of vigorous infection control practices, environmental disinfection, meticulous sample collection, and criteria for staff quarantine. Most of the ICUs are not designed to deal with airborne viral infections and require redesigning for the safety of HCWs and patients. Infection control practices related to the prevention of spread of COVD-19 are unique and are well described. The training of staff on infection control practices reduces the infection rate among HCWs significantly. Adequate staffing not only helps in infection control but also prevents burnout of the staff. In case of infection to HCW, the staff must be assessed systematically, and institute's infection control committee should guide for isolation period as well as return to work based upon standard recommendations. This article focuses on infection control and prevention measures required in ICU during the COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With more than 23 million infections and more than 814,000 deaths worldwide, the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is still far from over. Several classes of drugs including antivirals, antiretrovirals, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, and antibiotics have been tried with varying levels of success. Still, there is lack of any specific therapy to deal with this infection. Although less than 30% of these patients require intensive care unit admission, morbidity and mortality in this subgroup of patients remain high. Hence, it becomes imperative to have general principles to guide intensivists managing these patients. However, as the literature emerges, these recommendations may change and hence, frequent updates may be required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a resource-limited country like India, rationing of scarce critical care resources might be required to ensure appropriate delivery of care to the critically ill patients suffering from COVID-19 infection. Most of these patients require critical care support because of respiratory failure or presence of multiorgan dysfunction syndrome. As there is no pharmacological therapy available, respiratory support in the form of supplemental oxygen, noninvasive ventilation, and invasive mechanical ventilation remains mainstay of care in intensive care units. As there is still dearth of direct evidence, most of the data are extrapolated from the experience gained from the management of general critical care patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Providing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to a coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) patient is challenging for the healthcare providers (HCP). COVID-19 cases have specific CPR requirements, which differ from standard resuscitation efforts. Objective: This paper aims to evaluate whether online learning can be an effective methodology for imparting information on the management of cardiopulmonary arrest in COVID-19 patients due to a novel virus unknown to HCP based on evaluation of knowledge acquisition and satisfaction of the nurses in the new area of medicine and virology. Methodology: In a single-arm, one group before and after design, from a cohort of 160 nurses trained in comprehensive cardiac life support (CCLS) formulated by the Indian Resuscitation Council (IRC), 73 nurses participated in the study. After obtaining informed consent through the email from the nurses, baseline data including demographic profile and knowledge related to CPR in COVID-19 patients were collected. An online intervention spread over 1 week was given using a validated e-learning module. The online intervention was found to be effective (pre- and post-intervention knowledge score 13.65 ± 3.01 vs 19.92 ± 1.94, p = 0.001). The majority of nurses were highly satisfied with the content and the training methodology (37.23 ± 4.70). Conclusion: A well-structured, online study material can be used in imparting knowledge and demonstrating the basic and essential skills to nurses, required for giving CPR to COVID-19 patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has affected nearly all nations globally. The highly contagious nature of the disease puts the healthcare workers at high risk of acquiring infection, especially while handling airway and performing aerosol-generating procedures. The Indian Society of Critical Care Medicine, through this position paper, aims to provide guidance for safe airway management to all healthcare workers dealing with airway in COVID-19 patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]