Bracing the Emergency Department for the COVID-19 Era

The COVID-19 pandemic in a matter of few months has wreaked havoc across the globe. However as per the WHO, the worst may not be over yet and COVID-19 is going to stay with us for a long time. The coronavirus is highly contagious, and in the current scenario containment measures in the form of lockdowns and curfew may only be useful in transiently flattening the curve and not disease elimination. The absence of an effective vaccine and/or treatment, means that morbidity and mortality associated with COVID-19 is going to increase in the foreseeable future. For the emergency physicians (EPs) working on the frontlines, the battle may have just begun. Any patient coming to emergency room (ER), with COVID-19 related symptoms or otherwise, could be a potential source for the spread of coronavirus infection in the hospital. With most of the ER’s being overcrowded, the place itself will act as amplifier which could lead to a catastrophe. Ever since the beginning of this pandemic, our focus has completely shifted to only COVID-19 related symptoms which is proving detrimental for the other non-COVID emergencies. We hereby put forth certain possible solutions which may be useful for the smooth functioning of our emergency departments (EDs).