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Vol. 42. Issue 7.
Pages 457 (October 2018)
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Vol. 42. Issue 7.
Pages 457 (October 2018)
Letter to the Editor
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Health and safety management system to improve the self-protection plans in intensive care units
Sistema de gestión de seguridad y salud para garantizar la operatividad de los planes de autoprotección en unidades de cuidados intensivos
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M. López Gobernado
Corresponding author
mlopezgob@saludcastillayleon.es

Corresponding author.
, D. Villalba Gil, J. Hernández Bartolomé
Servicio de Prevención, Hospital Clínico Universitario de Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain
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D. González-Romero, J.D. Martín-Santana, Y.G. Santana-Padilla, L. Santana-Cabrera
D. González-Romero, J.D. Martín-Santana, Y.G. Santana-Padilla, L. Santana-Cabrera
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Dear Editor,

We have read with great interest González-Romero et al.’s paper1 describing how important it is to train the intensive care unit (ICU) personnel when it comes to acquiring knowledge on self-protection in the hospital setting. Following in the footsteps of your reflections and based on our own experience, we would like to stress how important it is for the organization the right management of both material and human resources in the ICU setting in order to answer effectively to all sort of emergencies and eventualities, and eventually ensure the safety and health of patients, workers, and visitors.

A recent study shows that in Swedish public hospitals there is a high risk for patients in the case of a fire and ICU evacuation.2 Also, certain situations that have already been reported in other hospitals3,4 show us how little the healthcare personnel know about how to deal with urgent situations due to the lack of proper learning and training.

Decisive leadership during the implementation and disclosure phase of the self-protection plan (SPP) is of paramount importance; also, the commitment from the healthcare personnel involved that should take an active role in the development and planning of the proceedings to be followed when this or that contingency occurs. Planning and executing disclosure and implementation activities, including information and training, and conducting audits and inspections guarantee the right implantation and follow-up of the SPP.

This contribution exposes the real risk of all hospital ICUs within the Spanish National Healthcare System and, in order to ensure the effectiveness of the SPP in time, it is necessary to review the technical resources, enable CME initiatives for the healthcare personnel, and verify how operative the plan is through periodic drills.

Healthcare organizations should go beyond the mere observance of the applicable legislation and orient themselves towards a proactive system model in order to implement safety measures comprehensively by developing management systems5 that deal with proceedings and processes that guarantee protection when it comes to the safety and health of users and healthcare professionals.

References
[1]
D. González-Romero, J.D. Martín-Santana, Y.G. Santana-Padilla, L. Santana-Cabrera.
Perception of the level of preparation of intensive care personnel on the self-protection plans [Article in English, Spanish].
[2]
E. Löfqvist, Å. Oskarsson, H. Brändström, A. Vuorio, M. Haney.
Evacuation preparedness in the event of fire in intensive care units in Sweden: more is needed.
Prehosp Disaster Med, 32 (2017), pp. 317-320
[3]
M.A. King, M.V. Dorfman, S. Einav, A.S. Niven, N. Kissoon, C.K. Grissom.
Evacuation of intensive care units during disaster: learning from the hurricane sandy experience.
Disaster Med Public Health Prep, 10 (2016), pp. 20-27
[4]
M. Espiritu, U. Patil, H. Cruz, A. Gupta, H. Matterson, Y. Kim, et al.
Evacuation of a neonatal intensive care unit in a disaster: lessons from hurricane sandy.
Pediatrics, 134 (2014), pp. e1662-e1669
[5]
M. López Gobernado, D. Villalba Gil.
ISO 45001 opportunity for healthcare organizations in improving occupational health.
Rev Calid Asist, 32 (2017), pp. 120-121

Please cite this article as: López Gobernado M, Villalba Gil D, Hernández Bartolomé J. Sistema de gestión de seguridad y salud para garantizar la operatividad de los planes de autoprotección en unidades de cuidados intensivos. Med Intensiva. 2018;42:457.

Copyright © 2018. Elsevier España, S.L.U. and SEMICYUC
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