One in twenty-five patients in acute care hospitals develop at least one health care associated infection (HAI); this resulted in approximately 75,000 preventable deaths in 2011. Risk factors associated with developing HAIs include older patients, serviced at a large hospital, central catheter placement, receiving medical ventilation, and placement in a critical care unit. In Pinellas County, individuals 65 years of age and older comprise approximately 24% of the total population.
Objective:
To assess healthcare facilitiesâ level of readiness to respond to an HAI outbreak, the Florida Department of Health in Pinellas County (DOH-Pinellas) conducted an HAI outbreak tabletop exercise (TTX) on June 6, 2017. Other benefits of this TTX were to provide opportunities for collaborative learning, building community partnerships and evaluation of HAI preparedness activities in Pinellas County healthcare facilities.