Overcrowding in the Dispatching Centre During the COVID-19 Crisis: Are Medical Students a Resource?

Introduction: In February, the emergence of COronaVIrus Disease 2019 (COVID - 19) in France made it necessary to rapidly adapt emergency and SAMU services in order to take care of many infected patients. To respond to the increase in the number of calls in the dispatch centers, reinforcements were necessary on the fronts of the Medical Regulation Assistants (ARM). The aim of this study was to assess the relevance of medical students' responses to first calls exclusively concerning COVID-19.

Continuous positive airway pressure for respiratory support during COVID-19 pandemic: a frugal approach from bench to bedside.

Background: We describe a frugal approach (focusing on needs, performance, and costs) to manage a massive influx of COVID-19 patients with acute hypoxemic respiratory failure (AHRF) using the Boussignac valve protected by a filter ("Filter Frugal CPAP", FF-CPAP) in and out the ICU.

Methods: (1) A bench study measured the impact of two filters with different mechanical properties on CPAP performances, and pressures were also measured in patients. (2) Non-ICU healthcare staff working in COVID-19 intermediate care units were trained with a video tutorial posted on a massive open online course.

Reliability and limits of transport-ventilators to safely ventilate severe patients in special surge situations.

Background: Intensive Care Units (ICU) have sometimes been overwhelmed by the surge of COVID-19 patients. Extending ICU capacity can be limited by the lack of air and oxygen pressure sources available. Transport ventilators requiring only one O source may be used in such places.

Assessment of rewarming methods in unplanned out-of-hospital births from a prospective cohort.

Background: Mobile intensive care units frequently manage unplanned out-of-hospital births (UOHB). Rewarming methods during pre-hospital management of UOHB have not yet been compared. The aim was to compare rewarming methods used during pre-hospital management in a large prospective cohort of UOHB in France.