Key issues in emergency department management of COVID-19: proposals for improving care for patients in Latin America.

The incidence of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Latin America and Spain and its impact particularly on hospital emergency departments have been great, sustained, and unpredictable. Unfortunately, this situation will continue in the medium term, regardless of the diverse concepts and definitions used to identify cases or hypotheses about the role of staff. In the context of the worldwide pandemic, a multinational group of experts from the Latin American Working Group to Improve Care for Patients With Infection (GT-LATINFURG) has drafted various opinion papers for use by emergency care systems in the member countries.

Sepsis in the emergency department: key points, controversies, and proposals for improvements in Latin America.

Although infection rates and the impact of infection on hospital emergency departments (EDs) are known or can be reliably estimated, the incidence and prevalence of sepsis vary in relation to which definitions or registers used. Sepsis is also well known to be under-diagnosed by physicians in general and by ED physicians in particular. Over half of sepsis cases are community-acquired, and 50% to 60% of patients in intensive care units (ICUs) with sepsis or septic shock are admitted directly from the ED.