How the COVID-19 infection tsunami revolutionized the work of respiratory physiotherapists: an experience from Northern Italy.

How the COVID-19 infection tsunami revolutionized the work of respiratory physiotherapists: an experience from Northern Italy. Monaldi Arch Chest Dis. 2020 May 19;90(2): Authors: Simonelli C, Paneroni M, Fokom AG, Saleri M, Speltoni I, Favero I, Garofali F, Scalvini S, Vitacca M Abstract Due to COVID-19 outbreak, to lighten the burden of acute and critical care hospitals, some respiratory rehabilitation departments have been used to host patients with COVID-19 in the post-acute phase. This new and unexpected situation required a change of roles and scheduling of the rehabilitation teams. In this manuscript we describe the unexpected and urgent organizational change of the Cardio-Pulmonary Rehabilitation (CPR) service during the COVID-19 emergency in a Northern Italian rehabilitation hospital, focusing on the Respiratory Physiotherapists' (RPTs) role. A quick three-days complete reorganization of the entire hospital was needed. A COVID-19 care team including a multidisciplinary panel of physicians, nurses, and RPTs was quickly performed to manage 90 beds for post acute patients with COVID-19. Within the team, the RPTs changed their shifts, so as to be available 16h per day, 7 days out of 7. Remodelled tasks in charge of RPTs were: oxygen therapy daily monitoring, non invasive ventilation (NIV) and continuous positive airways pressure (CPAP) delivery, pronation and postural changes to improve oxygenation, reconditioning with leg/arm cr...
Source: Monaldi Archives for Chest Disease - Category: Respiratory Medicine Tags: Monaldi Arch Chest Dis Source Type: research