Communicable Disease Control COVID-19 Response, Provincial Population & Public Health, Alberta Health Services, 10101 Southport Rd. SW, Calgary, AB, T2W 3N2, Canada.
Department of Community Health Sciences, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
Can J Public Health. 2022 Feb;113(1):87-95. doi: 10.17269/s41997-021-00604-6. Epub 2022 Jan 10.
In Alberta, a small team of specialized public health experts typically complete case investigation and contact tracing. High COVID-19 case counts and a shortage of trained public health professionals required a rapid and significant adaptation of staffing models to meet the population's needs.
A tiered, interdisciplinary staffing model, based on those in critical care, was developed, piloted, and implemented in the Alberta Health Services' Communicable Disease Control department in late 2020 to complete case investigation and contact tracing. The final model included novice, non-regulated professionals divided into pods of four to six investigators, led by an experienced regulated investigator. Team leads oversaw five pods. Communicable disease nurses provided an additional tier of clinical expertise. During the model development, roles and responsibilities of team members were delineated, ratios for supervision were tested, and rapid training was provided.
The tiered staffing model began in November 2020 with staff members in two pods. At its peak in early May 2021, 72 pods of 502 non-regulated members, 134 regulated investigators, and 4 communicable disease nurses completed 780-973 case investigations daily, or 40-45% of all positive cases in Alberta. In comparison, the same number of regulated investigators working independently in the traditional staffing model without non-regulated pods completed, on average, 249 case investigations daily.
A tiered staffing model can be effective at maximizing the skills of the experienced members of the case investigation team to maintain case investigation and contact tracing activities during a pandemic.
在艾伯塔省，一个由专业公共卫生专家组成的小团队通常负责完成病例调查和接触者追踪工作。由于 COVID-19 病例数量居高不下，且公共卫生专业人员短缺，需要迅速对人员配置模式进行重大调整，以满足民众的需求。
2020 年底，艾伯塔省卫生服务部传染病控制部门开发、试行并实施了一种基于重症监护的分层跨学科人员配置模式，以完成病例调查和接触者追踪工作。最终模式包括新手、非监管专业人员，他们分为 4 到 6 人的调查员小组，由经验丰富的监管调查员领导。团队负责人监督五个小组。传染病护士提供额外的临床专业知识。在模型开发过程中，明确了团队成员的角色和责任，测试了监督比例，并提供了快速培训。
分层人员配置模式于 2020 年 11 月开始，有两名小组成员。在 2021 年 5 月初的高峰期，72 个小组共 502 名非监管成员、134 名监管调查员和 4 名传染病护士每天完成 780-973 例病例调查，占艾伯塔省所有阳性病例的 40-45%。相比之下，同样数量的监管调查员在没有非监管小组的传统人员配置模式下独立工作，平均每天完成 249 例病例调查。
分层人员配置模式可以有效地最大限度地发挥经验丰富的病例调查团队成员的技能，在大流行期间维持病例调查和接触者追踪活动。
