Going to the COVID-19 Gemba: using observation and high reliability strategies to achieve safety in a time of crisis | PSNet

Going to the COVID-19 Gemba: using observation and high reliability strategies to achieve safety in a time of crisis | PSNet

Going to the COVID-19 Gemba: using observation and high reliability strategies to achieve safety in a time of crisis.

Thull-Freedman J, Mondoux S, Stang A, et al. CJEM 2020

This commentary reviews the principles of high-reliability organizations and their application to emergency department pandemic response and describes the experience of one children's hospital in Alberta, Canada applying these principles in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. Actions taken by the hospital included the use of an interprofessional ED quality council to identify processes where high reliability is essential in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, such as resuscitations, intubations, donning and doffing of personal protective equipment (PPE), and preventing contamination.