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The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:
A drill "Rosewood" was conducted in the Kowloon Central Cluster today (December 8) to evaluate and familiarise staff with the contingency measures in emergency transfer and provision of critical care to patients with avian flu in airborne infection isolation room (AIIR).
The drill conducted this morning simulated the situation where serious alert level was in place in Hong Kong representing there were confirmed H5 cases in local community. The scenario depicted a patient attended the Accident and Emergency Department of Queen Elizabeth Hospital with suspected avian flu and was transferred to AIIR for critical care after intubation. The suspected case was escorted by the supporting team in full gear of personal protective equipment via the designated route. Another patient who was already in AIIR was diagnosed avian flu. He was in critical condition and needed ventilator support. Critical care was provided to him in AIIR. The contingency plan on providing critical care in AIIR was immediately activated for both patients including bed arrangement, ventilator set up and personal protective equipment for staff. About 100 staff members of Kowloon Central Cluster participated in the drill today. Kowloon Hospital and Hong Kong Buddhist Hospital were also involved in the bed coordination. Moreover, representatives from Centre for Health Protection and Hong Kong Baptist Hospital also joined the drill.
The drill was smoothly conducted and all patient services remained normal. A debriefing had been held after the drill to review the communication flow and the response plan regarding service provision of critical care to patients with avian flu in AIIR. Further improvement in the contingency plan was identified.
The drill was one of the regular contingency drills of Kowloon Central Cluster to evaluate the hospital response in emergency situations. Kowloon Central Cluster will conduct other drills as and when appropriate, and will also participate in the drills organised by the Hospital Authority and other hospitals.
Ends/Saturday, December 8, 2007
Issued at HKT 13:36
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