When an epidemic threatens, Christiana Care shows its preparedness
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ven before the first cases of swine flu, clinically known as the H1N1 virus, were confirmed in Delaware, a multidisciplinary team at Christiana Care was mobilized, ready to deliver care and information in our region. “Our primary goals were to make sure that our messages were consistent with what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Delaware Division of Public Health were saying, says Marci Drees, M.D., MS, hospital epidemiologist and infectious diseases specialist.
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“We needed to do this while responding in detail to concerns specific to Christiana Care, and to relay a sense of calm,” she says. Christiana Care runs several drills a year to practice for different types of emergencies, says Administrative Projects Coordinator Brian Humphrey, BA, MBA, MHA. Heightened state of alert But H1N1 put the system into a heightened state of alert. “This time, it was for real,” Humphrey says. “It was new territory for everyone.” Internally, leaders in various disciplines communicated through conference calls at least twice a day, often with as many as 40 participants. “We had systemwide commitment,”
says Robert Rosenbaum, M.D., chair of Emergency Preparedness. “Departments that were requested to have backup scheduling plans were ready to staff extra areas to care for an influx of patients. Supplies were ready, distribution plans were in place and leadership was ready if we needed to move forward with our plans.” Excellent communications work Chief Medical Officer Jim Newman, M.D., participated in Gov. Jack Markell’s press conference addressing the crisis and served as a liaison with the governor’s office, which was instrumental in obtaining supplies of the antiviral drug Tamiflu, both in capsules and pediatric liquid.