Cardio-Vascular Unit in COVID
The cardiovascular team always involve a lot of health workers involved in the team including the doctors, paramedical staffs and the house keeping. There are several ways COVID can affect the unit
  1. Intensive care beds & ventilator : Complex vascular and cardiac cases may occupy ICU beds for a longer time. This may curb the need for more beds and ventilators in the near future during the COVID era.
  2. Selection of cases : It is difficult to draw a line between elective and urgent cases in cardiac surgery. Patient who can survive more than 4 weeks can be categorised as elective at the moment thought no guidelines define the same (Doug E. Wood, Chair of Surgery at the University of Washington). The American college of surgeons has proposed a COVID-19 guideline for triage of vascular surgery patients (4). They have advised not to postpone acute aortic dissection, rupture aneurysm, any symptomatic aneurysm or any aneurysm associated with infection. It has been recommended to postpone any asymptomatic aneurysm.
  3. Cardiovascular Patients: Complex cardiac and vascular patients are likely to have additional comorbidities. They may develop COVID 19 during the hospital stay or after surgery. A COVID19 patient may need an emergency cardiac or vascular procedure. A cardiovascular surgeon need to present when the situation of ECMO arises.
  4. Team work : It necessitate a close working environment in a cardiovascular unit, which theoretically may increase the chance of infectious spread, hence advisable to reduce the staff members and follow all the necessary precautions.
  5. Blood and blood products: Cardiac and vascular procedures invariably need the support of blood banks. There is drought of donors which makes the operation of blood bank difficult.