key: cord-270422-2xqptne5
authors: Kobsa, Serge; Uriel, Nir; Takeda, Koji; Takayama, Hiroo
title: Commentary: A Pandemic Blueprint for Planning Your Act and Acting Your Plan
date: 2020-09-18
journal: J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg
DOI: 10.1016/j.jtcvs.2020.09.057
sha: 
doc_id: 270422
cord_uid: 2xqptne5

nan

a comprehensive and detailed plan to take care of both types of patients. This plan should be executed at every level of the medical team. Regular and uninterrupted communication with full transparency on the current status, data analysis and future predication further empowers the team. As an example, an analysis at our center showed that the rate of in hospital transmission in a non-COVID CTICU unit was extremely low(5). This information was promptly disseminated among the medical teams and helped reassure the safety and effectiveness of our plan. Recently, we reported our experience across New York Presbyterian Hospitals network (6) . Again, we concluded that having a plan and acting by the plan with transparency and communication are the key. The plan, however, is to be modified and updated through constant data and situation analysis.

As the authors astutely point out, one should not risk a patient dying from heart disease to save someone dying of COVID-19 -a principle we could not agree with more. Finding the balance was not easy though. Our program was required to understand and react to the ever-changing reality. We had to transform ourselves for the care of our HF patients. In retrospect, the resilience of the program was tested by this pandemic. Note that Bansal and colleagues offer no uniform protocol; each program developed protocols specific to their own program and local situation. In this context, importance of team building in non-pandemic time cannot be underestimated, and perhaps such effort is more essential than attempting to forecast the unpredictable. It requires a true integration of multidisciplinary and collaborative behavior, visionary leadership, and fluent communications with the governance system at multiple levels.

Many of the changes/innovations introduced during this pandemic are here to stay; Telehealth, remote patients monitoring, video meeting and more. With proper preparation, planning and leadership, we would be better prepared next time.

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