Nurses, doctors, paramedics, and healthcare workers of all kinds have become the forefront of the COVID-19 pandemic. Enduring long hours, stressful working conditions, shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE), and ever evolving best COVID-19 protocol for handling patients.

Due to the upsurge and extent of coronavirus transmission, many hospitals have found themselves in short supply of critical PPE such as facemasks, eye protection, and respirators. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has continued to roll out changing best practices for healthcare workers operating in environments without adequate PPE. In early March the CDC recommended that healthcare professionals follow protocols aimed at protecting against airborne contamination. In an effort to deal with PPE shortages (specifically N95 masks) the CDC later downgraded their recommendations to follow protocols for protecting against contamination via droplets and contact. The most up-to-date protocol and CDC recommendations for healthcare workers can be found here.

“It’s a whole process, you have to make sure everybody’s up to speed, knows when they need to use this protective equipment, when to call for it, what the pathway is, what to do if a patient is negative, if a patient is suspicious, if a patient is positive, and who you need to call to get the protective equipment and masks.” – Mirvat Alasnag, MD (source)

Ever changing COVID-19 protocol is just one more burden added to the minds of already overly fatigued, anxious, and stressed healthcare workers. Disseminating COVID-19 protocol and other critical life saving information to healthcare workers should never become a game of telephone. A safer and more reliable alternative to rushed pre-shift huddles or on the fly updates is the utilization of a Mass notification system(MNS). MNSs have proven to be an effective, reliable, and efficient way to swiftly disseminate safety protocol messaging to healthcare workers.

“Clear communication from trusted sources, honesty and open discussion of fears have been shown to be the most effective methods of sustaining morale. HR, leadership and communications teams must work closely together to ensure timely, consistent, open and honest communications.” – NHS Guidance Report

An impeded flow of critical Information should never be a limiting factor for healthcare workers operating within a pandemic. If you are a healthcare or medical facility struggling to effectively communicate COVID-19 protocol or other critical information to your healthcare workers, 911Cellular wants to assist you. Please visit our website to request help.

Tags: Workplace safety Pandemic communication Hospital safety Pandemic Mass notification system