TY - JOUR
T1 - Best practices of highly infectious decedent management
T2 - Consensus recommendations from an international expert workshop
AU - Le, Aurora B.
AU - Brown, Christopher K.
AU - Gibbs, Shawn G.
AU - Uhrig, Alexander
AU - Green, Andrew D.
AU - Broch Brantsæter, Arne
AU - Herstein, Jocelyn J.
AU - Vasa, Angela
AU - Shugart, Jill
AU - Wilson Egbe, Wanda
AU - Lowe, John J.
N1 - Funding Information:
This workshop was funded as part of the “Training, Simulation, and Quarantine Transportation and Mortuary Training Program” under DHHS/ASPR (HHSO100201700005C/0007). J. Lowe was the co-Principal Investigator of this funding. A. Le and S. Gibbs served as independent contractors under this mechanism. Additionally, we acknowledge the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Worker Training Program (WTP). We would like to thank everyone who prepared for this conference and made this workshop possible including Sarah Dunsmore, Project Manager, for this funding opportunity; the staff at the National Strategic Institute (NSRI) at the University of Nebraska; the staff at the University of Nebraska Medical Center Global Center for Health Security National Training, Simulation and Quarantine Center; and all the participants of the workshop who—some of whom traveled significant distances—contributed to the rich and necessary discussion on HIDM. We would also like to extend our deep appreciation to Theresa Tonozzi, MPH, who served as a contractor on the mortuary affairs and helped us develop all the curriculum materials necessary for the workshop, curate existing literature and evidence-based guidance, as well as organize and analyze key findings from the workshop. Due to confidentiality, we could not list the name of all workshop attendees. However, we would like to extend our deepest gratitude for those who made time to participate in our HIDM workshop to discuss best practices, brainstorm how to best address present and future challenges, and enrich the conversation and quality of the workshop.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - With the increasing number of highly infectious disease incidents, outbreaks, and pandemics in our society (e.g., Ebola virus disease, Lassa fever, coronavirus diseases), the need for consensus and best practices on highly infectious decedent management is critical. In January 2020, a workshop of subject matter experts from across the world convened to discuss highly infectious live patient transport and highly infectious decedent management best practices. This commentary focuses on the highly infectious decedent management component of the workshop. The absence of guidance or disparate guidance on highly infectious decedent management can increase occupational safety and health risks for death care sector workers. To address this issue, the authorship presents these consensus recommendations on best practices in highly infectious decedent management, including discussion of what is considered a highly infectious decedent; scalability and storage for casualty events; integration of key stakeholders; infection control and facility considerations; transport; care and autopsy; psychological, ethical, and cultural considerations as well as multi-national care perspectives. These consensus recommendations are not intended to be exhaustive but rather to underscore this overlooked area and serve as a starting point for much-needed conversations.
AB - With the increasing number of highly infectious disease incidents, outbreaks, and pandemics in our society (e.g., Ebola virus disease, Lassa fever, coronavirus diseases), the need for consensus and best practices on highly infectious decedent management is critical. In January 2020, a workshop of subject matter experts from across the world convened to discuss highly infectious live patient transport and highly infectious decedent management best practices. This commentary focuses on the highly infectious decedent management component of the workshop. The absence of guidance or disparate guidance on highly infectious decedent management can increase occupational safety and health risks for death care sector workers. To address this issue, the authorship presents these consensus recommendations on best practices in highly infectious decedent management, including discussion of what is considered a highly infectious decedent; scalability and storage for casualty events; integration of key stakeholders; infection control and facility considerations; transport; care and autopsy; psychological, ethical, and cultural considerations as well as multi-national care perspectives. These consensus recommendations are not intended to be exhaustive but rather to underscore this overlooked area and serve as a starting point for much-needed conversations.
KW - Death care
KW - decedents
KW - fatality management
KW - highly infectious
KW - human remains
KW - transport
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U2 - 10.1080/15459624.2022.2027427
DO - 10.1080/15459624.2022.2027427
M3 - Comment/debate
C2 - 35025726
AN - SCOPUS:85125355476
SN - 1545-9624
VL - 19
SP - 129
EP - 138
JO - Journal of occupational and environmental hygiene
JF - Journal of occupational and environmental hygiene
IS - 3
ER -