This course and its contents were created by World Health Organisation. Permission has been granted to East, Central and Southern Africa College of Physicians to share this content with its fellows and all physicians through the ECSACOP VLE and Somesa platform

Overview:

This course includes content on clinical management of patients with a severe acute respiratory infection.

It is intended for clinicians who are working in intensive care units (ICUs) in low and middle-income countries and managing adult and pediatric patients with severe forms of acute respiratory infection (SARI), including severe pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), sepsis and septic shock. It is a hands-on practical guide to be used by health care professionals involved in clinical care management during outbreaks of influenza virus (seasonal) human infection due avian influenza virus (H5N1, H7N9), MERS-CoV, COVID-19 or other emerging respiratory viral epidemics.

Learning objectives: By the end of this course, participants should:

• Possess some of the necessary tools that can be used to care for the critically ill patient from hospital entry to hospital discharge.

Course duration: Approximately 10 hours.

Certificates: A Confirmation of Participation is available to participants who complete 90% of the course material.

Target audience: This course is intended for clinicians who are working in intensive care units (ICUs) in low and middle-income countries.

Course contents

• Module 1: Introduction to COVID-19 and IPC:

  This module covers a clinical update on COVID-19 as of 30.01.2020, and infection prevention and control (IPC) for patients with Severe Acute Respiratory Infections (SARI).

• Module 2: Clinical Syndromes and Pathophysiology of Sepsis and ARDS:

  This module covers clinical syndromes and the pathophysiology of Sepsis and ARDS.

• Module 3: Triage:

  This module covers triage and early recognition of patients with SARI. It includes two role-playing scenarios.

• Module 4: Monitoring :

  In this module, participants will learn about monitoring patients with SARI.

• Module 5: Diagnostics:

  In this module, participants will learn about differential diagnosis, specimen collection and diagnostic tests for SARI.

• Module 6: Oxygen Therapy:

  This module covers oxygen therapy.

• Module 7: Antimicrobials:

  This module covers antimicrobial therapy and its modification after diagnostic test interpretation.

• Module 8: Sepsis:

  In this module, participants will learn how to deliver targeted resuscitation for Sepsis and septic shock.

• Module 9: Mechanical Ventilation:

  In this module, participants will learn how to deliver lung-protective ventilation for invasive mechanical ventilation for Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS).

• Module 10: Sedation:

  This module covers invasive mechanical ventilation for ARDS, managing pain, agitation and delirium.

• Module 11: Best Practices to Prevent Complications:

  This module covers the best practices to prevent complications.

• Module 12: Liberation from Mechanical Ventilation:

  In this module, participants will learn about liberation from Mechanical Ventilation.

• Module 13: Quality in Critical Care:

  This module covers quality in critical care.

• Module 14: Pandemic Preparedness and Ethical Considerations:

  In this module, participants will learn about pandemic preparedness and ethical considerations.