Journal of Infectious Diseases and Treatment Open Access

SMART Program: SARS-CoV-2 Mitigation Approach and Response Tactics Program: A Multidisciplinary Outbreak Strategy to fi ght against COVID-19 Pandemic

25^th Edition of International Conference on Immunology and Infectious Diseases

April 21-22, 2021 Webinar

Romart Clark L. Telar

HealthPlus Medical Services, United Arab Emirates

Scientific Tracks Abstracts: J Infec Dis Treat

Abstract:

The new coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) emerged in December 2019 has been declared as pandemic on March 11, 2020 by the World Health Organization, signaling to the world that continued spread is likely, and that country should prepare for the possibility of widespread community transmission. The fi rst case of COVID-19 in the United Arab Emirates was confi rmed on 29 January 2020; since then, the number of cases has continued to grow exponentially. Hence, placing strains on health systems and essential public services across the world including the Ambulatory Care Services. In response, HPMS initiated the organizationwide Outbreak Response to COVID-19. The institution had faced diffi culties and challenges that we had never met before. The purposes of this program are as follows to establish, implement and sustain the evidence-based guidelines in responding to COVID-19 Pandemic and mitigate the spread of SARS-CoV 2 within the organization, to adhere to the local health authority and international protocols and directives relating to the COVID-19 Pandemic response. The four-step cycle namely Plan, Do, Check, and Act have been utilized as a primary methodology to examine the current guidelines in the clinical practice and develop changes to improve and provide safe and quality patient care. First, in the planning phase: observation of the existing clinical practices and review of the policies and procedures, creation of the COVID-19 task force, risk register, analysis of data gathered, corrective action plans have been conducted. Second, in the Do phase: The staff and patient mitigation plan have been implemented which includes: Training & Education, Engineering Control, and Comprehensive Administrative Control. Third, in the Check phase: COVID-19 Surveillance audit have been used. Lastly, in the Act phase: The task force and compliance group will evaluate and amend the gaps and areas for improvement in the corrective action plans implemented. The existing guidelines before the COVID-19 Pandemic were not suffi cient to safeguard the staff and patients in the organization. Finally, conclusions were drawn that the multidisciplinary effort to utilize the SMART program enables the organization to provide safe and quality patient care while reducing the risks of spreading the COVID-19. The changes in processes and protocols within the organization after the implementation of the SMART program helps to streamline and respond to the priority needs of the patient and staff protection. For future directions, continuous evaluation and review of the program would be recommended to provide timely interventions and responses to any future outbreak or infl ux of infectious diseases.

Biography :

Romart Clark L. Telar is currently working as Infection Control Manager in HealthPlus Medical Services, which is a JCI accredited facility managing nine (9) Outpatient and Ambulatory Care Centers across United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. He is Board Certifi ed in Infection Prevention and Control (CIC) by CBIC and Perioperative Nurse (CNOR) by CCI. He co-authored a clinical study entitled “The effect of incorporating covert observation into established overt observation-based hand hygiene promotion programs” published online on December 14, 2018 by American Journal of Infection Control (AJIC). Also, he is a degree holder of Master of Science Major in Nursing Administration and had been a member of APIC and previously member of AORN. He has Nursing registration in numerous countries such as United States of America, United Arab Emirates and Philippines.