Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
were entered into a registry and followed-up daily
by the ICT until discharge. Individual registries
from 13 acute hospitals were later integrated by
HAHO to become an online e-SARS registry,
which was later enhanced by the information
system of the Hong Kong Police Force designed
for criminal tracking and analysis. The resulting
linking of clinical information, a smart tracking
system and the epidemiological database under the
Department of Health served to effectively iden-
tify the chain of human transmission of SARS in a
timely manner. Because of its efficiency in contact
tracing, the e-SARS system had contributed signif-
icantly to containment of the outbreak. It was later
awarded the Stockholm Challenge Award in 2004
as an innovation in information system which had
significant benefit to society [33].
of PPE, and safe and effective NPA collec-
tion. Training was reinforced by video-viewing
at department or workplace level, and display of
posters and pamphlets in the most frequented areas
of the hospital. Non-hospital personnel recruited
by contracted-out services were equally trained by
their supervisors. Record of training in the form of
signed attendance lists was kept and monitored by
the Human Resources Department.
PYNEH set up a “SARS homepage” in the
hospital intranet to provide quick and easy refer-
ence to all infection control news and guidelines,
changes to inpatient services, operation proce-
dures, supporting services, and specialist outpatient
services and human resources issues. Staff feed-
back on all matters related to the SARS outbreak
were collected through focus group meetings,
designated contact persons (“staff ambassadors”)
assigned by the Human Resource Department
and nursing sections, staff hotlines and sugges-
tion boxes. A designated workplace controller was
appointed for every workplace unit to brief staff
on a daily basis, or three times a day if shift duty
was involved, on issues including hospital updates;
reinforcement of infection control measures; a
daily bulletin “The SARS Battling Update”; as
well as staff sentiment. An administrative staff was
designated to handle enquiries from the media and
the community.
23.6.3 Re-organization of Staff Canteen
Visitors and patients were prohibited from entering
the canteen. Signs were put up at the entrance to
remind staff not to wear PPE other than a fresh and
clean mask, and to clean hands with the alcohol
hand sprays provided before food consumption.
Close face-to-face interactions were discouraged.
All users had to sit facing the same direction,
even when having meals together. The number of
seats was reduced to increase space between users.
Senior staff of the canteen acted as patrol officers
to enforce these rules, while members of ICET
performed regular spot-checks for non-compliance
during peak hours.
23.6.5 Administrative Interface
23.6.5.1 Resource prioritization
The PYNEH Administrative Team played a coor-
dinating role to ensure smooth implementation of
the response plan. The wide scope of administra-
tive services including general and patient support
services; food services management; facilities
management; procurement and materials manage-
ment, is intricately linked to all clinical activities.
Material and human resources were prioritized
for SARS management. Non-medical wards were
converted to medical wards as the latter were
turned into cohort wards, with appropriate staff
deployments. Resources were appropriately re-
deployed to purchase PPE, improve environmental
23.6.4 Training and Communication
Within the Hospital
On March 15, 2003, the first staff forum was
jointly held by the COS in Medicine and ICO,
a clinical microbiologist and COS in Clinical
Pathology. As the outbreak continued, further staff
forums were held by the HCE to concentrate on
updating staff knowledge about the outbreak, with
repeated emphases on the importance of good
infection control practices. Many training sessions
on this subject were held for HCW, clerical and
administrative staff, including lectures and demon-
strations on proper gowning and de-gowning
