To help them through the pandemic, COVID19@Home has been launched as a clearinghouse of coronavirus resources for the 80 percent of people who are suffering with the illness at home.
The website covers specific topics of importance to individuals who are caring for themselves or a loved one, including how to use a pulse oximeter to track oxygen levels, a key metric for determining when to seek urgent medical attention.
A project developed along with the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), COVID19@Home provides people who have COVID-19 useful tips and recommendations directly from physicians, including emergency physicians and ACEP spokespeople, Jose Torradas MD, FACEP and Leigh Vinocur, MD, FACEP. Other experts include Hank Taliferro, CEO, Duke City Urgent Care and Dr. Susan Wilcox, Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at Harvard Medical School.
“By providing COVID19@home as a free public resource, we hope to be a steadfast and reliable counterweight to the misinformation that abounds,” says Dr.Torradas. “Smart public health choices will produce better outcomes.”
“People should not hesitate to go to the ER, especially older individuals or those with pre-existing conditions,” says Dr. Vinocur. “But we also need to give people good information to use at home.”
Developed by the Learning Agency, COVID19@Home contains other helpful resources for the public such as checklists and worksheets. The site will be updated over time so that it remains a reliable source of advice and information for at-home COVID-19 care.
“This is a much-needed effort. While people can always be treated in an urgent care or ER, our health systems do benefit when individuals can provide more home health services to those in need during a pandemic,” said Dr. Taliferro.
The resource can be found at www.covid19athome.org. Additional ACEP COVID-19 patient resources can be found at www.emergencyphysicians.org. COVID19@HOME: A FREE GUIDE FOR IN-HOME CORONAVIRUS CARE
The American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) is the national medical society representing emergency medicine. Through continuing education, research, public education and advocacy, ACEP advances emergency care on behalf of its 39,000 emergency physician members, and the more than 150 million Americans they treat on an annual basis. For more information, visit www.acep.org and www.emergencyphysicians.org.
