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Audience: These considerations are intended for use by federal, state, and local public health officials;leaders in occupational health services and infection prevention and control programs;and other leaders in healthcare settings who are responsible for developing and implementing policies and procedures for preventing pathogen transmission in healthcare settings Purpose: This document offers a series of strategies or options to optimize supplies of eye protection in healthcare settings when there is limited supply It does not address other aspects of pandemic planning;for those, healthcare facilities can refer to COVID-19 preparedness plans Surge capacity refers to the ability to manage a sudden increase in patient volume that would severely challenge or exceed the present capacity of a facility While there are no widely accepted measurements or triggers to distinguish surge capacity from daily patient care capacity, surge capacity is a useful framework to approach a decreased supply of eye protection during the COVID-19 response To help healthcare facilities plan and optimize the use of eye protection in response to COVID-19, CDC has developed a Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Burn Rate Calculator Three general strata have been used to describe surge capacity and can be used to prioritize measures to conserve eye protection supplies along the continuum of care Conventional capacity: measures consisting of engineering, administrative, and personal protective equipment (PPE) controls that should already be implemented in general infection prevention and control plans in healthcare settings Contingency capacity: measures that may be used temporarily during periods of expected eye protection shortages Contingency capacity strategies should only be implemented after considering and implementing conventional capacity strategies While current supply may meet the facility’s current or anticipated utilization rate, there may be uncertainty if future supply will be adequate and, therefore, contingency capacity strategies may be needed Crisis capacity: strategies that are not commensurate with U S standards of care but may need to be considered during periods of known eye protection shortages Crisis capacity strategies should only be implemented after considering and implementing conventional and contingency capacity strategies Facilities can consider crisis capacity strategies when the supply is not able to meet the facility’s current or anticipated utilization rate CDC’s optimization strategies for eye protection supply offer a continuum of options for use when eye protection supplies are stressed, running low, or exhausted Contingency and then crisis capacity measures augment conventional capacity measures and are meant to be considered and implemented sequentially Once eye protection availability returns to normal, healthcare facilities should promptly resume standard practices Decisions to implement contingency and crisis strategies are based upon these assumptions: Facilities understand their eye protection inventory and supply chain Facilities understand their eye protection utilization rate Facilities are in communication with local healthcare coalitions and federal, state, and local public health partners (e g , public health emergency preparedness and response staff) to identify additional supplies Facilities have already implemented other engineering and administrative control measures including: Use physical barriers and other engineering controls Limit number of patients going to hospital or outpatient settings Use telemedicine whenever possible Limit HCP not directly involved in patient care Limit face-to-face HCP encounters with patients Limit visitors to the facility to those essential for the patient’s physical or emotional well-being and care (e g , care partner, parent) Cohort patients and/or HCP Facilities have provided HCP with required education and training, including having them demonstrate competency with donning and doffing, with any PPE ensemble that is used to perform job responsibilities, such as provision of patient care Once availability of eye protection returns to normal, healthcare facilities should promptly resume conventional practices Determining the appropriate time to return to conventional strategies can be challenging Considerations affecting this decision include: the anticipated number of patients for whom eye protection should be worn by HCP providing their care the level of SARS-CoV-2 transmission in the community the daily supply of eye protection currently remaining at the facility whether or not the facility is receiving regular resupply with its full allotment
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