Lessons learned from the first 50 COVID-19 critical care transfer missions conducted by a civilian UK Helicopter Emergency Medical Service team

Background The COVID-19 pandemic has placed exceptional demand on Intensive Care Units, necessitating the critical care transfer of patients on a regional and national scale. Performing these transfers required specialist expertise and involved moving patients over significant distances. Air Ambulance Kent Surrey Sussex created a designated critical care transfer team and was one of the first civilian air ambulances in the United Kingdom to move ventilated COVID-19 patients by air. We describe the practical set up of such a service and the key lessons learned from the first 50 transfers. Methods Retrospective review of air critical care transfer service set up and case review of first 50 transfers. Results We describe key elements of the critical care transfer service, including coordination and activation; case interrogation; workforce; training; equipment; aircraft modifications; human factors and clinical governance. A total of 50 missions are described between 18 December 2020 and 1 February 2021. 94% of the transfer missions were conducted by road. The mean age of these patients was 58 years (29–83). 30 (60%) were male and 20 (40%) were female. The mean total mission cycle (time of referral until the time team declared free at receiving hospital) was 264 min (range 149–440 min). The mean time spent at the referring hospital prior to leaving for the receiving unit was 72 min (31–158). The mean transfer transit time between referring and receiving units was 72 min (9–182). Conclusion Critically ill COVID-19 patients have highly complex medical needs during transport. Critical care transfer of COVID-19-positive patients by civilian HEMS services, including air transfer, can be achieved safely with specific planning, protocols and precautions. Regional planning of COVID-19 critical care transfers is required to optimise the time available of critical care transfer teams.

ESTABLISHING A SHARED –USER COMMUNITY KITCHEN IN LILIW LAGUNA KITCHEN UTILITY PROJECT FOR ALL

The study aims to analyze the financial feasibility of establishing a shared-use community/ commercial kitchen as an economic development tool. The study was intended to reveal other potential opportunities that could exist with a viable community kitchen concept to enhance workforce training in the food service industry, culinary arts and help the local food manufacturers who do not have their kitchen facility. A 700 square meter, including areas for processing, storage, shipping, warehousing, etc and areas for culinary training, shared user community kitchen facility is needed in Liliw Laguna according to the fifty (50) respondent’s. The volume of responses and their consistent support of the shared – use concept of community kitchen facility provide sufficient basis for a positive feasibility determination. The strength of the anecdotal information drawn from in – depth interviews simply verifies the survey and provides a high degree of confidence in the study result. The needed facility design and equipment should match ethnic foods, local delicacies/snack foods, meat products and catered meals production. Freelance cooks wanted to use the facility regularly. Ninety-eight percent of the facility schedule could be absorbed by the potential users. The number of caterers without a kitchen in Liliw Laguna area seems to provide a sufficient base to provide a steady revenue stream, for the facility. Specialty food producers accounted for majority of all intended users (60% of respondents) with caterers the second most likely users (23% of respondents). Survey results indicated that there is a potential “hour lease” estimated at 166/168 revenue hours per week. Both groups would utilize the proposed facility. Liliw Senior High School – TVL strand within the vicinity desire to utilize the kitchen as a training facility. The capital budget needed is Php 9, 401, 981. The internal rate of return of the project is 23% at 20% cost money hurdle cost. The Return – on – Investment is 43% using DuPont’s Model and has positive net present value Php 1, 597, 649 assuming project life of eight years. The project can generate sufficient revenue to achieve breakeven point at 3, 173 rental services of Php 850 per hour. Has the ability to pay for itself within three and half (3.5) years with two employees – a facility General Manager on full time employment basis and a Facility General Manager on full time employment basis and a Facility General Affairs Assistant as soon as the revenue permits. The survey result indicated that the facility site is preferred at Mh. Del Pilar Bgry Pagasa Liliw Laguna. Many catering institutions need to be located in close proximity to their catering sites and clientele. A variety of collaborations is possible in developing the project and operating the facility. Potential structures include choices as Liliw Laguna as sole sponsor, owner, operator and administrator of the project transforming the kitchen as Government Owned and Controlled Corporation. KEYWORDS: Shared-User, Community Kitchen, Kusina ng Bayan, Kitchen Utility for All

Instructional Design Framework for Construction Materials Training

The construction industry is suffering, in part, from a lack of training programs offered to the construction workforce. Unfortunately, most construction training and education research focuses on university student education. Integrating education science theory into construction workforce training has the potential to improve industry training but there is a dearth of studies that present details of this integration process. To address this gap, a training framework was developed to educate material stakeholders on material properties, selection, and installation. This framework is based on andragogical and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles. An assessment method evaluates training agendas to improve upon instructional design before training implementation. This method assesses the proposed training framework by enumerating the occurrences of Bloom’s Taxonomy verbs to determine how closely the proposed training’s goals and objectives followed Bloom’s guidelines. This study culminates by establishing linkages from educational theory to proposed training modules. The module template is presented in a goals and objectives format so that organizations can best implement and test this training framework.

Does Deterioration of Aerodromes’ Economic Situation Influence the Level of Safety in Civil Aviation? What Can Be Done to Prevent It in Line with a Sustainable Transport Systems Approach?

Aviation has been one of the key engines of the globalization process and, at the same, time one of the industries most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and the parallel economic crisis. As safety seems to be the key issue at aerodromes, the aim of this article is to analyze what kind of safety hazards have the coronavirus slowdown created and which of them pose the greatest risk for aerodrome safety in the long run. What is more, the goal of the paper is to direct managers’ attention to proper crisis management in line with sustainability. The main findings are that all classified hazards cause, according to an expert’s assessment, similar safety risk at aerodromes, though limited workforce training and development are perceived as posing the greatest risk. The recommended solution to minimize the occurrence of the hazard is proactive risk management, which means that managers try to anticipate possible hazards in advance and act accordingly, which requires continual controlling combined with internal and external environment analysis and a consistent learning process. That should be accompanied by constant staff development. All these seem to effectively minimize most risks and make ground for a sustainable and safe transport system.

Participatory Research With Older Workers in a Pandemic: Innovations and Lessons Learned

In the spring of 2020, and as the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic became increasingly dire, in-person studies halted throughout the world. This included our planned study to examine the role of the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP)—the sole federal workforce training program for low-income older adults—in influencing participant financial, physical, and mental well-being. While our original plans were to hold a series of in-person workshops with SCSEP participants and case managers using a form of participatory research called community-based system dynamics (CBSD), we paused the launch of our study to determine the safest path forward. This presentation will describe how we responded as well as innovations and implications for future research with harder to reach populations. First, we met with the Massachusetts state SCSEP director to assess the feasibility of moving our sessions online with this particular population. After determining that virtual and telephone sessions would both be needed to increase accessibility, we identified virtual whiteboard software rigorous enough to utilize CBSD-specific activities, user-friendly enough for populations less familiar with virtual environments, and with security features that would be approved by our university, as well as discussed what types of activities to conduct on the telephone for such a visual research method. Our CBSD study was one of the first to utilize virtual and telephone formats in the history of this method, and our results indicate that it is possible—and sometimes beneficial—to move in-person participatory methods to these environments to increase inclusion and efficiency.

A Community-Based System Dynamics Study of the Senior Community Service Employment Program

The Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP), the only federal workforce-training program that targets older adults, engages people aged 55 years and older with incomes at or below 125% of the federal poverty level with multiple barriers to employment. This study examined SCSEP’s role in participant financial, physical, and mental well-being. To do so, we held five sessions (four virtual, one telephone) over a combined nine hours in August and September 2020 using a form of participatory research called community-based system dynamics with 15 Massachusetts SCSEP participants and case managers. Through structured activities, respondents identified how program, policy, and organizational factors influence and are influenced by participant well-being (e.g., SCSEP participation results in less social isolation, decreased isolation subsequently increases desire to participate) as well as program and policy recommendations to strengthen the program (e.g., reconsider benchmarks of success). These findings highlight the benefits and potential of this long-running program.

Cyber-Pedagogy to the Rescue: Creating Effective Online Programming for Students and Trainees During the Pandemic

COVID-19 upended in-person educational programming in areas such as classroom instruction within academic institutions, engagement of adult learners, and training of direct care workers. In-person educational offerings were forced, as a result of health restrictions, to pivot into either asynchronous or synchronous web-based instruction. This panel discussion will discuss lessons-learned in cyber-pedagogy in three areas: 1) Faculty Consultation: Faculty who teach online regularly and have completed training in quality online educational practices are experts who were called upon to assist others with transitioning courses to an online format. This presentation outlines the ways in which certified online instructors, at one academic center, tutored and assisted faculty in the health sciences with online instruction. 2) Adult Learning: The rapid transition to online learning has implications for adult learners pertaining to accessibility, diverse learning and technology abilities, and course and peer engagement. This presentation will explore strategies that faculty can utilize to offer adult learners differentiated learning and engagement opportunities. This discussion will also highlight the nexus among these pedagogical strategies and the Age-Friendly University Global Network, providing guidance for how universities can connect online learning methods to the Age-Friendly University principles. 3) Workforce Training: The direct care workforce employed in community-based services and support programs and long-term care settings tend to receive little or no training in geriatric care. This presentation will discuss how educational trainings offered through a Geriatric Workforce Enhancement Program transitioned onto web-based platforms in order to accommodate these ongoing educational needs throughout the pandemic.