The UI Health Care’s top priority is Safety. Recently, the American Heart Association (AHA) released new guidance recommending that chest compressions or defibrillation should not be delayed for retrieval and application of a mask or face covering, for either the patient or provider.
This new guidance stems from recent observations that survival outcomes following cardiac arrest have worsened during the pandemic. This decline in survival has been attributed to multiple factors, including delays in initiating CPR due to donning personal protective equipment (PPE), and rescuer fatigue during CPR from PPE.
UI Health Care employees are required to wear a medical-grade mask at all times while in our facilities, unless they’re alone in a private office or when eating/drinking.
We believe the new guidance from the AHA has the potential to expose health care workers. Therefore, UI Health Care will maintain its current guidance that standard precautions with universal masking be followed during all patient care, with the addition of respiratory protection (N95s) during CPR.
Our decision was made after discussion with many of our experts and serves as the latest example of UI Health Care’s commitment to maintaining a safe environment for all patients, visitors, and staff.