With the complex and fast-changing COVID-19 pandemic, we know you are concerned about protecting the health of your patients and your employees. As we provide airway management solutions that are being deployed on the front lines, we want to share how we are responding to the situation so that you can feel confident in our ability to support you during this critical time.
First, the health and safety of all Verathon employees continues to be our top priority. The majority of our employees are working remote and have been since March. This includes our Customer Care teams who continue to take and process customer orders. Our Clinical Specialists and Territory Managers are committed to supporting clinicians and health care providers and are using remote methods and technology to do so. As we are an essential business, our Manufacturing and Operations teams are working in our facilities without disruption. In order to protect these teams and the employees working in our facilities, we have taken several preventative measures as recommended by local health authorities, the Center for Disease Control (CDC), U.S. Department of Labor (Occupational Health and Safety Act), and the World Health Organization (WHO). Social distancing is supported and practiced everywhere.
Demand for video laryngoscopes and single-use bronchoscopes have significantly increased in light of COVID-19. We are executing extensive supply chain expansion plans that enable us to scale to keep pace with the clinical demand. We are continuing to build and ship products from all of our manufacturing and distribution facilities, although shipment times have increased on many of our products due to an unprecedented increase in demand. While we are increasing product supply, we continue to enforce our social distancing practices and hygiene protocols in each of our facilities.
As this is a dynamic situation, we will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates as needed. We have gathered some resources regarding airway management and bronchoscopy that we believe could provide useful guidance during this challenging period as shown below. Guidance is likely to change, and we encourage you to access the most up-to-date information from respected organizations such as the Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization.
Our Verathon mission, to deliver innovative medical solutions that empower health care providers to improve and extend patients’ lives, is more vital now than ever before. We are all in this together, and Verathon will continue to do all we can to support you as we manage through this global health crisis.
Yours sincerely,
Earl Thompson
President
Verathon Inc.
Resources
American Association for Bronchology and Interventional Pulmonology (AABIP) – SUMMARY ON COVID-19 INFECTIONS
American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST) – GUIDELINES & RESOURCES/COVID-19 (CORONAVIRUS) (Verathon to review this 404 link)
American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) – COVID-19 RESOURCES FOR ANESTHESIOLOGISTS
Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation – APSF – NOVEL CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) RESOURCE CENTER
Canadian Anesthesiologists’ Society – CORONAVIRUS TIPS AND GUIDELINES
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – CDC- COVID-19
Difficult Airway Society / Guy’s and St Thomas NHS Foundation – INTUBATE COVID
European Society of Anaesthesiology – COVID-19 AIRWAY MANAGEMENT
John Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center – COVID-19 INTERACTIVE MAP
Journal of the American Medical Association JAMA – CORONAVIRUS RESOURCE CENTER
National Institutes of Health (NIH) – COVID-19 TREATMENT GUIDELINES
New England Journal of Medicine – COVID-19
Nova Scotia Health Authority – AIRWAY MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES / COVID-19
Safe Airway Society – COVID-19
Society of Advanced Bronchoscopy (SAB) – SABS COVID-19 CONSENSUS STATEMENT AND GUIDELINES
Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) – COVID-19 RESOURCES
The Difficult Airway Course – 3 STEPS TO INTUBATE SAFELY WITH SUSPECTED COVID-19
University of Washington – COVID-19 RESOURCE SITE
World Health Organization – COVID-19
Chen, X. et al. Perioperative Management of Patients Infected with the Novel Coronavirus:
Recommendation from the Joint Task Force of the Chinese Society of Anesthesiology and
the Chinese Association of Anesthesiologists.
Anesthesiology. March 2020.
MORE
ECDC Technical Report. Infection prevention and control for COVID-19 in healthcare settings.
March 2020.
MORE
Ferguson, N.M. et al.
Impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) to reduce COVID19 mortality
and healthcare demand. Imperial College of London. March 16, 2020.
MORE
Waleed Alhazzani, W. et al. Surviving Sepsis Campaign:
Guidelines on the Management of Critically Ill. European Society of
Intensive Care Medicine and the Society of Critical Care Medicine 2020.
MORE
Wax, R.S., Christian, M.D.
Practical recommendations for critical care and anesthesiology teams caring
for novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) patients. Can J Anesth/J Can Anesth 2020.
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