ISRRT_COVID-19_book

Chest Computed Tomography
Chest CT plays an important role in both diagnosing and categorizing COVID-19 on the basis
of case definitions issued by the World Health Organization. Suspected COVID-19 patients
may undergo chest CT. Isolation and barrier procedures are necessary to protect both the
radiographers and other patients. All Palestinian MOH hospitals are equipped with CT
machines. One of the problems of CT was its limited availability and the length of time each
procedure took for imaging COVID-19 patients as the machine and its room also had to be
decontaminated carefully. Thus, while CT played an important role it was chest X-rays,
particularly portable, which had the lion’s share of radiology’s contribution to diagnosing and
staging the disease.
Emergency Training and Isolation Centers
The MOH followed WHO health protocols to deal with cases and their surroundings, and took
the necessary measures to equip the medical staff including public safety measures. The
emergency management and infection control measures implemented in the radiology
department during the outbreak have been approved by the infection control committee of
MOH hospitals. These measures are in accordance with relevant laws and regulations to
protect patients as well as radiographers. The radiology department staff working in isolation
centers received emergency training and shared the following responsibilities:
(1) coordination between the hospital’s management, infection control division, and
radiology departments; (2) collecting up-to-date protection-related information to educate
and train radiology department staff; (3) reallocate radiology staff according to the real
situation; (4) establishing CT procedures for COVID-19 patients; and (5) establishing an
emergency management plan for the radiology department to assure smooth workflow.
In order to provide medical care for confirmed and suspected COVID-19 patients, all hospital
staff were required to wear complete PPE: medical protective clothing, surgical cap, N95
mask, gloves, face shields, and goggles. Wearing and removing of the equipment must be
performed in accordance with the MOH procedures.
Working in the contaminated area poses much situational pressure on radiographers and
other medical staff, therefore, a periodical off duty could lower their physical and mental
21