Baycrest Health Sciences & Baycrest Foundation Publications
Issue link: http://baycrest.uberflip.com/i/1362136
"For me, getting vaccinated was not just about protecting my health, it was about protecting those around me." Infection Prevention AND CONTROL AT BAYCREST: HOW THEY ARE KEEPING US SAFE Having now passed the one-year mark of our response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are able to look back at how we started, what we have done in the past year and how we are working with our partners in the community and in government to continue to keep older adults safe, both on the Baycrest campus and in the community. BrainMatters spoke with Linh Ngo, Infection Control Practitioner at Baycrest, about what she has learned throughout this pandemic, how the Infection Prevention and Control (IPAC) team is keeping Baycrest patients and residents safe, and her advice as the pandemic continues to develop. Q: CAN YOU GIVE US A BRIEF SUMMARY OF IPAC PROTOCOLS AT BAYCREST AND HOW THEY HAVE EVOLVED THROUGHOUT THE PANDEMIC? Linh: From the beginning, the IPAC team at Baycrest has followed best practices recommended by Public Health Ontario's (PHO) Provincial Infectious Diseases Advisory Committee on Infection Prevention and Control (PIDAC-IPC). PIDAC-IPC advises PHO on the prevention and control of healthcare-associated infections, with a focus on healthcare providers, clients, patients and residents. When we first learned about COVID-19, it was very early in 2020 and we didn't have much information to go on. We were starting to make very important decisions but the global health community didn't have many answers since it was all so new. Our approach then, in line with PIDAC-IPC recommendations, was to be overly cautious. We put in place enhanced precautions for anyone experiencing symptoms, which included airborne, droplet and contact precautions. This was in place until we had a better understanding of the virus and what we were dealing with. As more information became available, we were able to adjust our protocols. An important milestone for us was when we learned that the virus was not airborne and we only required droplet and contact precautions for suspected and confirmed COVID-19 cases. This meant that we would be able to care for our patients and residents on campus instead of transferring them to other facilities, an important factor when caring for an older population. 20 BrainMATTERS SPRING|SUMMER 2021 Linh Ngo