Emergencies Still Happen in a Pandemic

HOW-TO GUIDEOUR COMMUNITIESFrontline Healthcare

May 19

Data from Adventist Health Lodi Memorial Emergency Department.Figure 1: Emergency Department Volume by Day and Timeline of Key Even

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TEAM LEAD: Laura Wong MD/PhD

TEAM MEMBERS: Jessica Hawkins MSed, Simone Langness MD, Avni Joshi, Diana Nguyen, Christian Shannon, Hsin-Lei Charlene Wang, Sasha Avrutina

FOCUS AREAS: PPE, Face Masks, Face Shields, Make at Home

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Leaders at a 150-bed community hospital in California partnered with a collective of Human-Centered Designers to rapidly address a sudden drop in emergency department visits after a state-wide stay-at-home order was issued. The initiative developed targeted messaging to assuage patient fears about safety and remind patients not to ignore heart and stroke symptoms.

This initiative has established reliable channels and effective methods to boost communication between hospitals, healthcare providers, and the general public beyond the normal scope of mainstream media. Here, we share the strategies that worked in our setting so that others can benefit from our experience.