Webinar 11th June: Prevention of Pathogen Transmission during POCUS – NEW guidelines released. The webinar will update you on the latest issues and recommendations from The College of Intensive Care Medicine, Ultrasound Special Interest Group (USIG) recently published guidelines that are relevant to all medical specialty teams. MORE DETAILS HERE. Register for LIVE Webinar
The Australian College of Critical Care Nurses (ACCCN) and the Australasian College of Infection Prevention and Control (ACIPC) endorse practices aimed at facilitating family visitation in critical care, where resources (such as PPE) and staffing permit. Read the full statement:
COVID-19 Q&A Webinar Wednesday 20th May - recording available along with previous webinars in this series HERE.
Listen to the latest updates on COVID-19. Panel Chair: Professor Brett Mitchell - University of Newcastle
Panelists:
Dr Andrew Stewardson - The Alfred Hospital and Monash University, Martin Kiernan - IPC Lead at NHS Nightingale and Clinical Director at GAMA Healthcare, Kathy Dempsey - NSW Clinical Excellence Commission, Belinda Henderson - Queensland Health - Metro South
From the President
Dear Colleagues,
Where are we in this COVID-19 marathon? Its hard to know for sure, perhaps halfway, maybe not even that far. Nevertheless, as restrictions are slowly being eased, it is interesting to note the reinforcement of practical hygiene and infection prevention measures. Some of our infection preventing mantras are becoming embedded into daily community life, not the least, messages on the importance of good hand hygiene and the role of alcohol based hand rubs. Future generations of healthcare workers are now performing hand hygiene as they enter their primary school classrooms. A habit they will hopefully continue in their future professional lives!
The Infection Control Expert Group (ICEG) continues to provide infection control support to AHPPC. Information about ICEG, membership and all publications are now posted on the ICEG website.
The National COVID-19 Clinical Evidence Taskforce continues its prolific weekly output, and posts all updates on its website as well as updating the living guidelines in the MagicApp.
There has been a recent update to the guidelines COVID-19 Outbreaks in Residential Care Facilities and this and other resources can be found on the ACIPC COVID 19 resources page.
The College continues its advocacy work during this time and earlier this month ACIPC joined with the Australian College of Critical Care Nurses (ACCCN) for a Position Statement endorsing practices aimed at facilitating next-of-kin presence for patients dying from COVID-19 in the ICU. The statement can be accessed on the ACIPC home page.
With the absence of the traditional conference this year, we have looked to broaden the scope of exposure and engagement for sponsors with opportunities that demonstrate value for both the sponsors and ACIPC members. Next month the College will launch a number of new initiatives and this will include tiered sponsor categories, opportunities to work with the College directly by sponsoring education events, as well as a number of online event opportunities. As a sponsor of ACIPC, your organisation will be associated with leadership and excellence in the field of Infection Prevention and Control and I look forward to sharing our 2020/2021 prospectus with members and stakeholders over the next few weeks.
Phil Russo
ACIPC President
Read the latest ACIPC Newsletter
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Cardinal Health Infection Control Scholarship – deadline has been extended to 30th June 2020
Have you initiated a successful infection control strategy or would like to develop or implement one? If so, Cardinal Health want to recognise your excellence! The Cardinal Health 2020 Infection Control Scholarship has been designed to encourage Australian and New Zealand infection control practitioners to share their successes and innovations and to gain support for further work in these areas. The scholarship is to support critical infection control projects to enhance patient safety and assist best practice procedures and work place outcomes.This funding will be awarded across three categories:
• Major Research Project: Awarded to two projects requiring funding up to $15,000 (Total Award = $30,000).
• Minor Research Projects: Two grants for research projects requiring funding up to $5,000 will be awarded (Total Award = $10,000).
• Educational Grant: A total of $10,000 in grants to further educational requests related to infection control.
More details are on the Scholarships and Awards Page.
GAMA Healthcare Australia and ACIPC have collaborated on a series of webinars designed to assist our healthcare colleagues during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Upcoming Member-Only Webinars
May 21st | Lunch and Learn Webinar – “How are Australasian hospital facilities providing PPE training?- results of a national survey”
– Ruth Barratt
July 16th | Lunch and Learn Webinar – Redesigning environmental cleaning in the out of hospital setting (paramedicine) – Tanya Somani Paramedic
Congratulations to ACIPC member Maria Broumos who is the 2020 recipient of the Joan Faoagali Award! Maria is a Team Leader Dental Operations at Merri Community Health Services in Victoria and will receive $1000 towards her tuition fees for Foundations of Infection Prevention and Control. Read our interview with Maria on the Awards and Scholarships page.
The National COVID-19 Clinical Evidence Taskforce has been established to undertake continuous evidence surveillance to identify and rapidly synthesise emerging research in order to provide national, evidence-based guidelines for the clinical care of people with COVID-19. ACIPC is proud to be a member partner of the Taskforce.
The taskforce works closely with the National Infection Control Expert Group, on which ACIPC is also represented, advising the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC) and its other standing committees on infection prevention and control issues.
IDH have established a panel of experts, to undertake a rapid review of COVID19 infection prevention & control research. We will expedite publication of accepted articles & make these freely available for the coming months i.e. not behind a subscription. www.idhjournal.com.au
The Australian Commission for Safety and Quality in Healthcare has produced a number of new resources to promote infection prevention and control in the COVID-19 environment and illustrate the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) under current circumstances. Here are the links to download the posters:
Infection Prevention and Control COVID-19 Personal Protective Equipment
