SERVICES & SAFETY PROTOCOLS DURING COVID-19
ProResp has extensive expertise and experience to provide safe, reliable care to patients during this pandemic while working collaboratively with patients, physicians, hospitals, senior living residences and other community partners. We know what’s at stake and we are prepared to serve, keeping patients in the centre of their care.
Our teams are trained on infection prevention and control protocols for everyday practice and during a pandemic. We comply with directives issued by Ontario Health and Public Health Ontario, including:
- Self-screening of employees for COVD-19 symptoms daily.
- Use of hand hygiene and personal protection equipment (PPE).
- Maintaining a supply of PPE in each vehicle and office with additional inventory at our Head Office in London, Ontario to help provide continuity of services.
- Screening of patients and caregivers prior to every home or office visit.
- Routinely disinfecting respiratory therapy equipment before providing to patients to protect against the COVID-19 virus and other pathogens. We maintain inventory of equipment and related supplies at local offices with reserves also at our Head Office.
Bringing respiratory therapists to the community is part of ProResp’s foundation. Our respiratory therapists are trained to manage the care of those we serve effectively and safely; their expertise adds confidence to our patients and to our health system partners.
HOSPITALS, PRIMARY CARE AND SPECIALISTS
ProResp pledges to keep doing our part by helping decant hospital beds and by bringing COVID-positive patients home from hospital, safely providing community respiratory therapy as they recover. We also commit to continuing our work with primary care and specialist acute COVID projects aimed at preventing hospital admissions through home monitoring of oxygen patients.
We continue to limit visits to hospitals, medical offices and other practice settings, relying on technology to exchange information. We will collaborate with our healthcare colleagues, completing in-home respiratory assessments when clinically indicated and requested.
Specifically, for patients, after screening to assure safety, ProResp will:
- Provide same day oxygen assessment and in-home set-up as requested.
- Provide portable oxygen for hospital discharge.
- Complete in-person or virtual follow up assessments, as appropriate, using our patient-centred program (Pro2Care) with a focus on care planning and patient safety.
Primary Care physicians can now access the COVID @ Home resource toolkit from Ontario Health using the following link: https://quorum.hqontario.ca/en/Home/Posts/COVIDHome-Monitoring-for-Primary-Care-1
PATIENTS AND CAREGIVERS
CPAP, AutoPAP and BiLevel PAP Therapy
Our offices will continue to be open for essential services including PAP therapy. We are here for your therapy needs and offer the following:
- Regular office hours: Monday - Friday 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., call for an appointment or to place an order.
- In-office and curbside pick-up or home delivery (fee applies to home delivery).
- Daily screening of all staff.
- Screening of all office visitors.
- Mask use required by all staff and visitors (unless medical contraindication).
- Mask + visor to be worn by clinical staff during appointment.
- Disinfection of common surfaces after each appointment.
- Virtual PAP set-up option.
- Virtual support option for follow-up care and communications.
- Our commitment remains to provide effective PAP therapy in a patient centred, safe, and comfortable environment that encourages long-term therapy compliance.
Oxygen Therapy, ProResp will:
- Require staff, patients and others in the home to wear a mask during all in-person contact.
- Provide ongoing oxygen delivery. Where possible, patients can place their empty oxygen supply on their porch or entrance and ProResp will exchange.
- Not request signatures for the delivery of supplies and on Care Plans.
- Maintain physical distancing of two-metres from patients during all visits where possible. For required close contact with patients (e.g. during a required clinical assessment) we will use appropriate PPE, hand hygiene and minimize the assessment time.
- Disinfect equipment used during patient assessments, including stethoscopes and oximeters, before entering and after leaving patient homes.
- Read more on Portable Oxygen Concentrator Use During the COVID-19 Pandemic.
For patients with SUSPECTED OR CONFIRMED COVID-19:
- ProResp will perform the services listed above keeping the need for in-home visits to a safe minimum, complimenting with virtual visits. We will utilize appropriate PPE for each in-person visit (mask, gown, gloves and eye protection).
- Equipment removed from these homes will receive curbside decontamination, loaded onto our service vehicles for return to our offices. Disposable supplies will be discarded at patients’ homes. Equipment is initially quarantined in our warehouses, then re-processed through stringent disinfection and performance testing protocols before being returned to service.
- Note: ProResp employees will wear personal protective equipment (PPE) when in your home – masks, gloves, gowns, eye goggles – when required by provincial directives or otherwise determined as clinical best practice.
SENIOR LIVING PARTNERS
ProResp will:
- Participate in essential visitor screening before entry.
- Require all ProResp employees serving long-term care and retirement homes to adhere to required COVID-19 testing guidelines.
- Provide your teams with adequate oxygen and respiratory therapy equipment and supplies to the best of our ability.
- Suspend the requirement for delivery signatures.
- Provide initial assessments on residents started on oxygen therapy.
- Perform on-site resident assessments when necessary to help prevent ER transfers.
- Provide respiratory therapy phone consults with your registered staff regarding resident care concerns.
- Be available on-site to your team for assessments on any resident during declared outbreaks.
- Assist with your N95 respiratory fit testing.
- Adhere to IPAC and COVID-19 specific polices, directives and guidelines for essential visitors.
WELLNESS TIPS
For those with respiratory conditions who may be more vulnerable to COVID-19, the safest measures you can take are to stay home and away from crowds and to avoid travel. We encourage you to keep active - take a walk outside when weather permits or find other ways to stay active.
Follow these measures recommended on the Ontario Ministry of Health COVID-19 website to reduce your chance of infection:
- Wash your hands often with soap and water or alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
- Sneeze and cough into your sleeve.
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth
- Avoid contact with people who are sick.
- Receive your COVID-19 vaccine.
- Stay home; wear a mask when you need to go out.
Find a ProResp community Respiratory Therapist near you.
Helping People Breathe, Right at Home!