Attacks against healthcare workers on the rise in COVID-19 era
Editor's Note A week and a half after Chicago’s COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, a nurse taking a bus home after her shift was attacked by another passenger because she coughed into the crook of her arm. The nurse was wearing a mask, and she was dressed in scrubs, and she…
FDA: Class I recall of Medtronic’s Extracorporeal Blood Pumping Console
Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), on April 20, identified the recall of Medtronic’s Bio-Console 560 Extracorporeal Blood Pumping Console as Class I, the most serious. The Console is used during heart surgery to pump and return blood to a patient during cardiopulmonary bypass. The recall was initiated…
US anesthesiologists’ burnout rate, risk factors
Editor's Note The prevalence of burnout in anesthesiologists is high, and workplace factors are a big influence, finds this study led by researchers at Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Of 3,898 respondents to a survey of American Society of Anesthesiologists members: 59.2% had a high risk of burnout…
The Joint Commission: Aisle widths must have at least 36 inches of clearance
Editor's Note The Joint Commission announced April 21 that, effectively immediately, Life Safety Code surveyors will cite noncompliance in suites with aisles that have less than 36 inches of clearance from side to side to facilitate egress in hospitals and critical access hospitals. The finding will be scored at Life…
Logistics, clinical outcomes associated with converting ORs into an ICU for COVID-19 patients
Editor's Note This study by researchers from the department of anesthesiology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, and the department of perioperative services-nursing, New York-Presbyterian Hospital, both in New York City, describes how OR and anesthesia personnel converted 23 ORs into an 82-bed operating room intensive care unit (ORICU), ensured staff…
Cleveland Clinic, Mayo Clinic leading campaign to promote COVID-19 vaccination
Editor's Note Cleveland Clinic and Mayo Clinic are leading a coalition of 60 hospitals and healthcare institutions in a nationwide campaign to encourage adults to get vaccinated against COVID-19, Cleveland Clinic announced in an April 20 news release. The “Get the Vaccine to Save Lives” campaign is designed to reassure…
Effect of indoor air changes on COVID-19 transmission
Editor's Note In this JAMA Insights article, researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, and University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, conclude that increasing air changes per hour and air filtration are simple concepts that could be used to help reduce within-room, far-field (ie, within-room but beyond 6 feet)…
CDC: 40% of US adults administered at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine
Editor's Note As of April 19, nearly 40% of US adults have been given at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports. A total of 85,365,180 Americans have been fully vaccinated, which is 25.7% of the total population. The CDC says…
Effects of wearing cloth face masks during exercise
Editor's Note This study led by the sports therapy and research department at Baylor Scott and White Health, Frisco, Texas, finds that cloth face masks led to a 14% reduction in exercise time and 29% decrease in VO2max. In this randomized controlled trial of 31 healthy adults (14 women, 17…
FDA issues Class I recall of certain Medtronic ICDs, CRT-Ds
Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), on April 12, identified the recall of Medtronic’s Evera, Viva, Brava, Claria, Amplia, Compia, and Visia implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) and cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillators (CRT-Ds) as Class I, the most serious. The recall was initiated because of an unexpected and rapid…