Use of US Public Health Travel Restrictions during COVID-19 Outbreak on Diamond Princess Ship, Japan, February-April 2020

An Updated Review of Literature for Air Medical Evacuation High-Level Containment Transport During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic

OBJECTIVE

In 2019, our team conducted a literature review of air medical evacuation high-level containment transport (AE-HLCT) of patients infected with high-consequence pathogens. Since that publication, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has resulted in numerous air medical evacuations. We re-examined the new literature associated with AE-HLCTs to determine new innovations developed as a result of the pandemic.

METHODS

A literature search was performed in PubMed/MEDLINE from February 2019 to October 2021. The authors screened abstracts for the inclusion criteria and reviewed full articles if the abstract was relevant to the aim.

RESULTS

Our search criteria yielded 19 publications. Many of the early transports of patients with COVID-19 used established protocols for AE-HLCT, which were built from the most recent transports of patients with Ebola virus disease. Innovations from the identified articles are subdivided into preflight considerations, in-flight operations, and postflight operations.

CONCLUSION

Lessons gleaned from AE-HLCTs of patients with COVID-19 in the early weeks of the pandemic, when little was known about transmission or the severity of the novel disease, have advanced the field of AE-HLCT. Teams that had never conducted such transports now have experience and processes. However, more research into AE-HLCT is needed, including research related to single-patient portable isolation units as well as containerized/multipatient transportation systems.

Lessons Learned from the Lessons Learned in Public Health during the First Years of COVID-19 Pandemic

(1) Objectives: to investigate the main lessons learned from the public health (PH) response to COVID-19, using the global perspective endorsed by the WHO pillars, and understand what countries have learned from their practical actions. (2) Methods: we searched for articles in PubMed and CINAHL from 1 January 2020 to 31 January 2022. 455 articles were included. Inclusion criteria were PH themes and lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic. One hundred and forty-four articles were finally included in a detailed scoping review. (3) Findings: 78 lessons learned were available, cited 928 times in the 144 articles. Our review highlighted 5 main lessons learned among the WHO regions: need for continuous coordination between PH institutions and organisations (1); importance of assessment and evaluation of risk factors for the diffusion of COVID-19, identifying vulnerable populations (2); establishment of evaluation systems to assess the impact of planned PH measures (3); extensive application of digital technologies, telecommunications and electronic health records (4); need for periodic scientific reviews to provide regular updates on the most effective PH management strategies (5). (4) Conclusion: lessons found in this review could be essential for the future, providing recommendations for an increasingly flexible, fast and efficient PH response to a healthcare emergency such as the COVID-19 pandemic.