VeriMask

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-29
Author(s):  
Yan Long ◽  
Alexander Curtiss ◽  
Sara Rampazzi ◽  
Josiah Hester ◽  
Kevin Fu
Keyword(s):  
Health Workers ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Throughput Maximization ◽  
Front Line ◽  
Moist Heat ◽  
Healthcare Settings ◽  
The Us ◽  
Real Scenario ◽  
Smart Technologies

The US CDC has recognized moist-heat as one of the most effective and accessible methods of decontaminating N95 masks for reuse in response to the persistent N95 mask shortages caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it is challenging to reliably deploy this technique in healthcare settings due to a lack of smart technologies capable of ensuring proper decontamination conditions of hundreds of masks simultaneously. To tackle these challenges, we developed an open-source wireless sensor platform---VeriMask1 ---that facilitates per-mask verification of the moist-heat decontamination process. VeriMask is capable of monitoring hundreds of masks simultaneously in commercially available heating systems and provides a novel throughput-maximization functionality to help operators optimize the decontamination settings. We evaluate VeriMask in laboratory and real-scenario clinical settings and find that it effectively detects decontamination failures and operator errors in multiple settings and increases the mask decontamination throughput. Our easy-to-use, low-power, low-cost, scalable platform integrates with existing hospital protocols and equipment, and can be broadly deployed in under-resourced facilities to protect front-line healthcare workers by lowering their risk of infection from reused N95 masks. We also memorialize the design challenges, guidelines, and lessons learned from developing and deploying VeriMask during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Our hope is that by reflecting and reporting on this design experience, technologists and front-line health workers will be better prepared to collaborate for future pandemics, regarding mask decontamination, but also other forms of crisis tech.

Exercise 24

2011 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 36-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Austin W. Howe ◽  
Murray E. Jennex ◽  
George H. Bressler ◽  
Eric Frost
Keyword(s):  
Low Cost ◽  
Crisis Response ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Web Technologies ◽  
Federal Organizations ◽  
The Us ◽  
Balkan Area ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Field Report ◽  
Significant Support

Can populations self organize a crisis response? This is a field report on the first two efforts in a continuing series of exercises termed “Exercise 24 or x24.” The first Exercise 24 focused on Southern California, while the second (24 Europe) focused on the Balkan area of Eastern Europe. These exercises attempted to demonstrate that self-organizing groups can form and respond to a crisis using low-cost social media and other emerging web technologies. Over 10,000 people participated in X24 while X24 Europe had over 49,000 participants. X24 involved people from 79 nations while X24 Europe officially included participants from at least 92 countries. Exercise 24 was organized by a team of workers centered at the SDSU Viz Center including significant support from the US Navy as well as other military and Federal organizations. Dr. George Bressler, Adjunct Faculty member at the Viz Center led both efforts. Major efforts from senior professionals EUCOM and NORTHCOM contributed significantly to the preparation for and success of both X24 and especially X24 Europe. This paper presents lessons learned and other experiences gained through the coordination and performance of Exercise 24.

scholarly journals The use of low-cost ruggedized Android tablets to augment in-service training of community health workers in Mukono, Uganda: perspectives and lessons learned from the field

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 1482-1490
Author(s):  
Christina E Stiles ◽  
Edward O’Neil Jr ◽  
Kenneth Kabali ◽  
James O’Donovan
Keyword(s):  
Community Health ◽  
Community Health Workers ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Refresher Training ◽  
Service Training

Background: Despite potential for community health workers (CHWs) to effectively reduce morbidity and mortality in sub-Saharan Africa, they still face multiple barriers including access to on-going and refresher training. Digital technology offers a potential solution to improve the provision of ongoing training for CHWs. Objectives: This report shares participant insights and experiences following the implementation of a mobile health (mHealth) assisted Integrated Community Case Management (iCCM) refresher training programme for CHWs in Mukono, Uganda. We seek to document benefits and challenges of such an approach. Methods: CHWs were trained to recognize, treat and prevent childhood pneumonia via locally made videos preloaded onto low cost, ruggedized Android tablets. Subsequent interviews were compiled with key stakeholders including CHWs, CHW leaders and programme supervisors to better understand the strengths, barriers and lessons learned following the interven- tion. Results: Success factors included the establishment of CHW leadership structures, the ability to use the tablets to learn on an “any pace, any place” basis and using the tablets to conduct community teaching and outreach. Barriers included appro- priate consideration of the implementation timeline and avoiding a “one size fits all” approach to digital literacy training. Conclusions: The strength of the program stemmed from a grassroots approach that prioritized stakeholder input at all stages. Leadership at a local level, a history of local engagement and trust built up over a period time were also integral. As organizations aim to scale up digitally enhanced training initiatives, it is paramount that attention is paid to these human factors which are key for program success. Keywords: Low-cost ruggedized Android tablets; in-service training; community health workers; Mukono.

Exercise24

2013 ◽  
pp. 232-250 ◽  
Author(s):  
Austin W. Howe ◽  
Murray E. Jennex ◽  
George H. Bressler ◽  
Eric Frost
Keyword(s):  
Low Cost ◽  
Crisis Response ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Web Technologies ◽  
Federal Organizations ◽  
The Us ◽  
Balkan Area ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Field Report ◽  
Significant Support

Can populations self organize a crisis response? This is a field report on the first two efforts in a continuing series of exercises termed “Exercise24 or x24.” The first Exercise 24 focused on Southern California, while the second (24 Europe) focused on the Balkan area of Eastern Europe. These exercises attempted to demonstrate that self-organizing groups can form and respond to a crisis using low-cost social media and other emerging web technologies. Over 10,000 people participated in X24 while X24 Europe had over 49,000 participants. X24 involved people from 79 nations while X24 Europe officially included participants from at least 92 countries. Exercise24 was organized by a team of workers centered at the SDSU Viz Center including significant support from the US Navy as well as other military and Federal organizations. Dr. George Bressler, Adjunct Faculty member at the Viz Center led both efforts. Major efforts from senior professionals EUCOM and NORTHCOM contributed significantly to the preparation for and success of both X24 and especially X24 Europe. This paper presents lessons learned and other experiences gained through the coordination and performance of Exercise24.

scholarly journals The GIPA Concept ‘Lost in Transition’

2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thandeka Dlamini-Simelane
Keyword(s):  
Health Workers ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Hiv Care ◽  
People Living With Hiv ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Employment Contracts ◽  
Healthcare Settings ◽  
Resource Limited ◽  
The Status ◽  
Living With Hiv

AbstractFollowing the call by UNAIDS in 2006 to involve people living with HIV (PLHIV) in treatment programmes, expert clients were recruited to provide services within healthcare settings as volunteers alongside paid health workers. Swazi law requires employment contracts for anyone working in a full-time capacity for three months, complicating the status of expert clients. This article traces the genesis of the volunteer framework used to engage PLHIV in the provision of HIV care in Swaziland and describes how the quest for PLHIV to be involved coupled with donors’ promotion of the Greater Involvement of People Living with HIV/AIDS (GIPA) principle have together resulted in PLHIV serving as low-cost workers, disempowering the very people GIPA was meant to empower. I call for review of GIPA-based policies and a paradigm shift regarding a non-medically trained cadre of workers in an era of acute health-worker shortages in resource-limited countries hard hit by HIV.

Exercise24

2013 ◽  
pp. 1437-1454
Author(s):  
Austin W. Howe ◽  
Murray E. Jennex ◽  
George H. Bressler ◽  
Eric G. Frost
Keyword(s):  
Low Cost ◽  
Crisis Response ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Web Technologies ◽  
Federal Organizations ◽  
The Us ◽  
Balkan Area ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Field Report ◽  
Significant Support

Can populations self organize a crisis response? This is a field report on the first two efforts in a continuing series of exercises termed “Exercise24 or x24.” The first Exercise 24 focused on Southern California, while the second (24 Europe) focused on the Balkan area of Eastern Europe. These exercises attempted to demonstrate that self-organizing groups can form and respond to a crisis using low-cost social media and other emerging web technologies. Over 10,000 people participated in X24 while X24 Europe had over 49,000 participants. X24 involved people from 79 nations while X24 Europe officially included participants from at least 92 countries. Exercise24 was organized by a team of workers centered at the SDSU Viz Center including significant support from the US Navy as well as other military and Federal organizations. Dr. George Bressler, Adjunct Faculty member at the Viz Center led both efforts. Major efforts from senior professionals EUCOM and NORTHCOM contributed significantly to the preparation for and success of both X24 and especially X24 Europe. This paper presents lessons learned and other experiences gained through the coordination and performance of Exercise24.

scholarly journals Working conditions and health status of 6,317 front line public health workers across five provinces in China during the COVID-19 epidemic: a cross-sectional study

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jinghua Li ◽  
Jingdong Xu ◽  
Huan Zhou ◽  
Hua You ◽  
Xiaohui Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Status ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Working Conditions ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Front Line ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Self Rated Health ◽  
Public Health Workers

ABSTRACT Background Public health workers at the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC) and primary health care institutes (PHIs) were among the main workers who implemented prevention, control, and containment measures. However, their efforts and health status have not been well documented. We aimed to investigate the working conditions and health status of front line public health workers in China during the COVID-19 epidemic. Methods Between 18 February and 1 March 2020, we conducted an online cross-sectional survey of 2,313 CDC workers and 4,004 PHI workers in five provinces across China experiencing different scales of COVID-19 epidemic. We surveyed all participants about their work conditions, roles, burdens, perceptions, mental health, and self-rated health using a self-constructed questionnaire and standardised measurements (i.e., Patient Health Questionnaire and General Anxiety Disorder scale). To examine the independent associations between working conditions and health outcomes, we used multivariate regression models controlling for potential confounders. Results The prevalence of depression, anxiety, and poor self-rated health was 21.3, 19.0, and 9.8%, respectively, among public health workers (27.1, 20.6, and 15.0% among CDC workers and 17.5, 17.9, and 6.8% among PHI workers). The majority (71.6%) made immense efforts in both field and non-field work. Nearly 20.0% have worked all night for more than 3 days, and 45.3% had worked throughout the Chinese New Year holiday. Three risk factors and two protective factors were found to be independently associated with all three health outcomes in our final multivariate models: working all night for >3 days (multivariate odds ratio [ORm]=1.67~1.75, p<0.001), concerns about infection at work (ORm=1.46~1.89, p<0.001), perceived troubles at work (ORm=1.10~1.28, p<0.001), initiating COVID-19 prevention work after January 23 (ORm=0.78~0.82, p=0.002~0.008), and ability to persist for > 1 month at the current work intensity (ORm=0.44~0.55, p<0.001). Conclusions Chinese public health workers made immense efforts and personal sacrifices to control the COVID-19 epidemic and faced the risk of mental health problems. Efforts are needed to improve the working conditions and health status of public health workers and thus maintain their morale and effectiveness during the fight against COVID-19.

scholarly journals The COVID Army: Experiences from the Deployment of Non-Hospitalist Physician Volunteers during the 2020 COVID Pandemic

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Kevin Hauck ◽  
Katherine Hochman ◽  
Mark Pochapin ◽  
Sondra Zabar ◽  
Jeffrey A Wilhite ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
New York City ◽  
Medical Center ◽  
The United States ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Front Line ◽  
Clinical Leadership ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Medical Centers ◽  
Hospitalist Physician

Abstract Objective New York City was the epicenter of the outbreak of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. As a large, quaternary care medical center, NYU Langone Medical Center was one of many New York medical centers that experienced an unprecedented influx of patients during this time. Clinical leadership effectively identified, oriented, and rapidly deployed a “COVID Army”, consisting of non-hospitalist physicians, to meet the needs of this patient influx. We share feedback from our providers on our processes and offer specific recommendations for systems experiencing a similar influx in the current and future pandemics. Methods In order to assess the experiences and perceived readiness of these physicians (n=183), we distributed a 32-item survey between March and June of 2020. Thematic analyses and response rates were examined in order to develop results. Results Responses highlighted varying experiences and attitudes of our front-line physicians during an emerging pandemic. Thematic analyses revealed a series of lessons learned, including the need to: (1) provide orientations, (2) clarify roles/ workflow, (3) balance team workload, (4) keep teams updated on evolving policies, (5) make team members feel valued, and (6) ensure they have necessary tools available. Conclusions Lessons from our deployment and assessment are scalable at other institutions.

scholarly journals Psychodynamics of imagination failures: Reflections on the 20th anniversary of 9/11

2021 ◽  
pp. 135050762110097
Author(s):  
Amy L Fraher
Keyword(s):  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Macro Level ◽  
Future Research ◽  
September 11Th ◽  
Empire Building ◽  
Public Inquiry ◽  
The Us ◽  
New Type ◽  
20Th Anniversary ◽  
Psychodynamic Understanding

This article aims to advance the psychodynamic understanding of imagination failures by studying lessons learned in the US government’s public inquiry into September 11th, 2001 (9/11). Analyzing the findings of The 9/11 Report, I theorize that two forms of macro-level hubris—America’s “hubris of empire-building” and Al Qaeda’s “hubris-nemesis complex”—amalgamated in a uniquely generative manner leading to events on 9/11. Previous studies of public inquiries often demonstrate that inquiry reports are monological story-telling performances used to create sense-making narratives that function hegemonically to impose a simplified version of reality to assign blame and depoliticize events in order to facilitate closure after shocking events. In contrast, findings here suggest that by constructing a critical narrative, The 9/11 Report may serve as a new type of public inquiry report that invites learning about the complex factors that underpin crisis. The article concludes by identifying fruitful areas of future research and ways to theorize further about the collective psychodynamics of macro-level hubris and the psychodynamic factors that hinder learning and contribute to imagination failures.

scholarly journals Solar Thermochemical Hydrogen Production in the USA

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 7804
Author(s):  
Christoph Falter ◽  
Andreas Sizmann
Keyword(s):  
Hydrogen Production ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
The United States ◽  
Solar Irradiation ◽  
Transport Sector ◽  
Fossil Energy ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Solar Thermochemical

Hydrogen produced from renewable energy has the potential to decarbonize parts of the transport sector and many other industries. For a sustainable replacement of fossil energy carriers, both the environmental and economic performance of its production are important. Here, the solar thermochemical hydrogen pathway is characterized with a techno-economic and life-cycle analysis. Assuming a further increase of conversion efficiency and a reduction of investment costs, it is found that hydrogen can be produced in the United States of America at costs of 2.1–3.2 EUR/kg (2.4–3.6 USD/kg) at specific greenhouse gas emissions of 1.4 kg CO2-eq/kg. A geographical potential analysis shows that a maximum of 8.4 × 1011 kg per year can be produced, which corresponds to about twelve times the current global and about 80 times the current US hydrogen production. The best locations are found in the Southwest of the US, which have a high solar irradiation and short distances to the sea, which is beneficial for access to desalinated water. Unlike for petrochemical products, the transport of hydrogen could potentially present an obstacle in terms of cost and emissions under unfavorable circumstances. Given a large-scale deployment, low-cost transport seems, however, feasible.

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