SHORT REPORT  COVID-19 SECTION Open access

Italian Journal of Emergency Medicine 2021 August;10(2):85-8

DOI: 10.23736/S2532-1285.21.00063-X

Copyright © 2021 THE AUTHORS

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license which allows users to copy and distribute the manuscript, as long as this is not done for commercial purposes and further does not permit distribution of the manuscript if it is changed or edited in any way, and as long as the user gives appropriate credits to the original author(s) and the source (with a link to the formal publication through the relevant DOI) and provides a link to the license.

language: English

Standardized approach to patients with suspected SARS-CoV2 infection at the Emergency Department: the Valcamonica model

Filippo MANELLI ¹ ✉, Andrea PATRONI ², Maria S. COTELLI ³, Mariachiara MICHELINI ¹, Eugenio ATZENI ¹, Michele BRIGANTI ¹, Graziella BONETTI ⁴

¹ Emergency Unit, ASST-Valcamonica, Esine, Brescia, Italy; ² Hospital Infections Committee, ASST-Valcamonica, Esine, Brescia, Italy; ³ Neurology Unit, ASST-Valcamonica, Esine, Brescia, Italy; ⁴ Laboratory of Clinical Pathology, ASST-Valcamonica, Esine, Brescia, Italy

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which reported in an outbreak in 2019 in Wuhan, Hubei province, China, is caused by the SARS-CoV2 virus. Interestingly, the virus binds with angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 found in host cells, through the spike (S) protein that exists on its surface. We created a simple protocol for approaching patients with suspected SARS-CoV2 infection, in order to rationalize access to emergency unit, territorial management and hospitalization. We suggest that this model could be applied in other small territories similar to Valcamonica.

KEY WORDS: COVID-19; Italy; Hospital emergency service; Triage; Clinical protocols