Management of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and N95 Respirator for COVID-19 Response: Case Studies from 5 Regional Hospitals

Abstract

This research aimed to study resource management for COVID-19 response in 5 regional hospitals, investigate resource usage for COVID-19 response, examine factors resulting in resource usage in COVID-19 patients, and compare between resource usage guidelines for COVID-19 response developed by Department of Medical Services (DMS), Thoracic Society of Thailand Under Royal Patronage (TST), and real practice. This research was conducted from 1 April to 30 June 2020. The samples were personnel assigned for resource management in regional hospitals with high number of COVID-19 patients. Samples were selcted through purposive sampling from 5 regional hospitals. Data were collected by indepth interview and survey of resource use for COVID-19 response using a Microsoft Excel form developed together with experts. Qualitative data were analyzed by content analysis and quantitative data by descriptive statistics using STATA. Results showed that (1) resource management comprised 4 components including patient category, facility management, resource usage guidance, and human resource; (2) the utilization of N95 respirators and PPE for COVID-19 patients in the 5 hospitals was at similar level among each category of patients. The highest supplies were provided to severe COVID-19 patients who used approximately 76.25 pieces/set/person/day (SD=58.74). The moderate cases, mild COVID-19 cases, and the person under investigation (PUI) used on average 23.8 (SD=58.74), 22 (SD=10.77), and 21.6 (SD=11.63) pieces/set/person/day, respectively; (3) there were 6 factors that were assoaciated with the resource utilization in the 5 hospitals, that included the number of patients, the number of personnel in service, the length of hospital stay, the symptoms and category of patients, care and treatment services, and patient ward management for COVID-19 patients; and (4) in term of guideline comparison among DMS guideline, TST guideline and resource usage in real practice from the survey of 5 hospitals, it was found that N95 and PPE usages among these guidelines were different. There were much higher usages of N95 and PPE in real practice than it was recommended in the guidelines.