Update on the implementation of new recommendations for the use of respiratory filters at Mulhouse hospital

Introduction: Facing the COVID-19 epidemic and its array of tensions/disruptions of supply and the need to avoid the spread of the disease, recommendations for the use of antibacterial/anti-viral filters and heat ± moisture exchangers (HMEs) on the inspiratory and expiratory circuits of ventilators were issued by a multi-disciplinary working group A few weeks after the initiation of the new security procedures during the COVID-19 epidemic, the medical devices department of the pharmacy began to be requested by various ventilator users departments for non-conformity and/or non-compatibility of the filters issued to them Objective: An investigation was carried out to understand the reason and origin of the malfunctions and to avoid reproducing them Materials and methods: We surveyed caregivers in the different departments concerned with the use of respiratory filters, learned about the assemblies and positioning of the filters on the respiratory circuit and checked the characteristics of the filters used Results: The causes of the malfunctions were highlighted and corrective actions have been taken in our department to minimise the risk of errors in the use of filters and to ensure that departments have the right filter for the right use Conclusion: The dysfunctions observed were favoured by a context of epidemic crisis but also by a lack of communication and diffusion of written and explicit document while sending of unusual filter references to ventilator user services This incident should alert us to the need, in the future, to widely associate all the actors involved, when drafting similar protocols, from the purchase of medical devices to the final users, including the biomedical service