READY TO RESPOND: An inside look at Sacred Heart's Special Pathogen Unit

Описание: COVID is no longer considered a public health emergency, and our healthcare professionals are applying what they learned during the pandemic and staying prepared for future outbreaks.

The Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center's Special Pathogens Unit (SPU) team is always ready to respond.

The SPU team comprises nurses, doctors, therapists, and more. It was made in 2015 to serve residents in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington with a mission to respond and care for patients if a high-consequence disease enters the region.

They take part in quarterly training that is thorough, meticulous, and extensive to prepare for diseases like Ebola and, most recently, the novel coronavirus.

In February 2020, they activated for the first time and were able to put their knowledge of care, protection, and prevention to work.

"There were times that it felt just like it did when we were training because we've done that so much, and I think it speaks to the value of that preparedness," said SPU program manager Christa Arguinchona, MSN, RN, CCRN.

Sacred Heart's team is one of only 13 units across the country designated by the federal government to respond to diseases in this way. With that comes federal funding and state-of-the-art technology.

Now that COVID is no longer on the same level of severity that it once was, the team is no longer active. They work in other units of the hospital until they are needed. However, the SPU training continues to make sure they are always prepared.

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