The REACT-C19 project has started in Baku. After working for 14 days at the Educational - Therapeutic clinic and Educational - Surgical clinic of Azerbaijan Medical University, “Yeni Klinika” and “Markazi Neftchilar” Hospitals in Baku, our trips to the regions began and our first visits were to Ganja, Shamkir, Goranboy and Agdash. Our visit, which began in the western regions of Azerbaijan, will be followed by the northern and southern regions. In this way, we will help strengthen preparedness in 16 hospitals fighting COVID. Every place in Azerbaijan is beautiful and so unique. Our work in Baku is different from what we see and do in the regions, and one of the interesting things about working in the field is not being able to predict what you will face. This makes every 14-day cycle, that we work non-stop, which we call a "sprint" more interesting and unique.
We are represented by a team of 4 doctors in each hospital we visit. Our teams are conducting assessment using a Checklist recommended by the World Health Organization to ensure hospitals preparedness around the world for outbreak. Within 2 days, they examine hospital triage, accident management system, infection control, disease management, opportunities to increase hospital stocks, epidemiological analysis indicators, the level of training of medical staff, medical waste management, resuscitation, laboratory and other nuances down to the smallest detail. At the end of 2 days, a team of 4 people prepares a report on the current situation and develops an action plan. The prepared reports, recommendations on possible improvement measures, proposals on training topics are submitted to the hospital management, and the work is started with the support and initiative of the management.
Trainings of our teams include lectures prepared based on WHO online courses and WHO- approved sources taking into account the wishes of local consulting doctors and medical staff. Our teams of doctors, who are in hospitals for 14 days, make presentations and conduct practical trainings, both with the patient, in interactive discussions or in small groups, keeping the social distance. A group of local doctors who actively participate in the trainings and master the evaluation system of the World Health Organization is formed, and they are provided with access to the online portal developed within the REACT-C19 project.
However, at the end of 14 days we left the hospital we remain in contact with the local medical staff and local pandemic doctors are becoming users of a large “Pandemic Platform” where they can take live video lessons, listen to lectures from professors, ask questions and share experiences with the founders of the fight against COVID in the hospital where they work at Ege University Hospital, the Turkish side of the project. Tasks fulfiled in each working day, each improvement event is recorded and graphically analyzed. The initial and final statuses are evaluated, the next recommendations and the final report are sent by us to TABIB and the hospital management.
Throughout this process, our team of physicians also learns, exchanges knowledge and experience, sees the local situation and opportunities more clearly, helps to form a local consulting team with greater time and resources, and travels to other regions. One of the important targetted nuances of the project is to build future-oriented links with the hospitals we work with and to keep these connections alive, dynamic and strong.