Document available in English, Spanish and French.
"Explosions can produce unique patterns of injury seldom seen outside combat.
When they do occur, they have the potential to inflict multi-system life-threatening injuries
on many persons simultaneously. The injury patterns following such events are a product of
the composition and amount of the ...materials involved, the surrounding environment,
delivery method (if a bomb), the distance between the victim and the blast, and any
intervening protective barriers or environmental hazards. Because explosions are relatively
infrequent, blast-related injuries can present unique triage, diagnostic, and management
challenges to providers of emergency care. "
accessed 2018/03/29
more
The purpose of this training is to prepare clinicians in first receiver settings to: (1) Identify factors impacting immediate medical response to mass casualties following major types of radiological incidents, and (2) Demonstrate appropriate patient assessment, triage, treatment and disposition dec...ision-making required during a radiological mass casualty incident.
more
The Public Health Burden of Commercial Tobacco Use
The burden of disease and death from commercial tobacco* use in the United States is
overwhelmingly caused by cigarettes and other combustible tobacco products.
The first update of the ECDC ventilation guidance document contains:
key new findings that emphasise four bundles of NPIs to reduce the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission in closed spaces;
updated references on the evidence of transmission in closed spaces;
recommendations based on the n...ew evidence and on national and international guidance; and
an overview of national guidance ventilation documents in the context of COVID-19 based on an inquiry sent to ECDC’s National Focal Points (NFPs) for Preparedness and Response and NFPs for Influenza and other respiratory diseases.
more
This document aims to provide advice on the use of cloth face masks and sterilisation of respirators and surgical masks as an alternative in healthcare settings with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 cases if there is a shortage of specialised surgical masks and respirators.
This checklist has been developed to support hospital preparedness for the management of COVID-19 patients.
Elements to be assessed have been divided into the following areas:
Establishment of a core team and key internal and external contact points
Human, material and facility capacit...y
Communication and data protection
Hand hygiene, personal protective equipment (PPE), and waste management
Triage, first contact and prioritisation
Patient placement, moving of the patients in the facility, and visitor access
Environmental cleaning
For each area mentioned above, the elements or processes were identified and the items to be checked are listed below.
A procedure for the self-auditing of compliance with this checklist should be considered.
more
Special Report
This report of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) was coordinated by Teymur Noori, with technical support from Andrew J. Amato-Gauci, Anastasia Pharris, Jan C. Semenza, Denis Coulombier and Piotr Kramarz.
The objective of this document is to guide the preparation and implementation of national preparedness plans for the safety of substances of human origin during outbreaks of Zika virus infection, both in affected and non-affected areas.
Interim guidelines developed by CDC for healthcare providers in the United States caring for infants born to mothers who while pregnant traveled to or resided in an area with Zika virus transmission. These guidelines include recommendations for the evaluation, testing, and management of infants with... and without microcephaly or intracranial calcifications detected.
more
Euro Surveillance 2014;19(47):pii=20970, p.31-37
The following checklist can help hospitals assess and improve their preparedness for responding to a community-wide outbreak of COVID-19. Each hospital will need to adapt this checklist to meet its unique needs and circumstances. This checklist should be used as one of several tools for evaluating c...urrent plans or in developing a comprehensive COVID-19 preparedness plan.
more
Formularies are lists of antibiotics that are suggested for certain healthcare settings. In developing a recommended formulary, countries should consider the needs of patients and facilities where they receive care. For example, clinicians in rural or primary health centers may need wide access to f...irst-line antibiotics (e.g., penicillin, ampicillin, TMP-SMX), but last resort antibiotics such as carbapenems or colistin might be limited to tertiary care hospitals. Efforts to create antibiotic formularies may be linked to efforts within countries to create or update essential medicine lists (EML).
more