Bulletin 141 (17-06-21)
Contents:
- COVID-19 Therapeutic Alert - Remdesivir for patients hospitalised with COVID-19 (adults and children aged 12 years and older)
- Supporting Long Covid – Manager’s Guide
- Personal protective equipment and heat: risk of heat stress
Useful links for staff:
- Support for Staff hub
- Advice and FAQs for staff section
- Working remotely? We’re making these bulletins available here for staff working remotely. If you need help with MS Teams, help guides can be found here.
COVID-19 Therapeutic Alert - Remdesivir for patients hospitalised with COVID-19 (adults and children aged 12 years and older)
Please see the Chief Medical Officers alert received this week. NHS trusts are advised to consider prescribing a course of remdesivir to eligible hospitalised patients with COVID-19 pneumonia, typically with dexamethasone as standard of care. This now includes re-admitted patients, patients with end-stage renal disease on haemodialysis and significantly immunocompromised patients, in line with the criteria in the updated NHS Interim Clinical Commissioning Policy. This guidance updates and replaces the COVID-19 Therapeutic Alert CEM/CMO/2020/035 which was issued on 06 November 2020.
Supporting Long Covid – Manager’s Guide
Long term symptoms are common after a Covid infection and the term ‘long covid’ (LC) has been applied for people who still have symptoms after 12 weeks. The UK prevalence of long covid is unknown, but one report estimated it at around 10% of people infected.
Long covid affects people of any age and does not relate to the severity of the infection, (hospitalisation, admission to ITU etc). People with even asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic Covid infection can develop long covid. Click here to access the manager’s guide on supporting colleagues with long covid.
Personal protective equipment and heat: risk of heat stress
Public Health England and the Health and Safety Executive have issued an alert regarding wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) in warm/hot environments and the increase in the risk of heat stress. Heat stress is where the body is unable to cool sufficiently to maintain a healthy temperature.
Staff working in warm/hot conditions are advised to:
- Take regular breaks and find somewhere cool if you can
- Make sure you are hydrated
- Be aware of signs and symptoms of heat stress and dehydration (thirst, dry mouth, dark or strong smelling urine, urinating infrequently or in small amounts, inability to concentrate, muscle cramps and fainting). Don’t wait until you start to feel unwell before taking a break.
- Use a buddy system within your team to look out for signs of heat stress in each other (confusion, pale or clammy, fast breathing)
- Between shifts, try and stay cool as this will give your body a chance to recover
- If someone is showing signs of heat exhaustion, they need to be cooled down. Follow this link for more information on StaffNET: ‘heat exhaustion, heat stroke and actions to take to cool down’.
