Abstract

Introduction

General care of patients admitted in critical care units entails regular checking and implementation of some basic care principles for all patients. Having a mnemonic to regularise and ease the check has been shown to consistently improve care practices and outcomes in patients. The most commonly used mnemonic to this effect was described and published by JL Vincent as the FAST HUG acronym.⁽¹⁾ there have been several additions and modifications to this one , to suit different subgroup of patients. WR Vincent and Hatton modified it to FAST HUGS BID⁽²⁾. For issues related to drugs, it has been modified to FAST HUG MAIDENS by Mabasa VH et al⁽³⁾. In surgical icu patients it was used to reduce the incidence of VAP by Papadimos et al⁽⁴⁾. FAST HUG BID contents has been modified to facilitate nutritional support to icu patients by Monares Zepeda and Galindo Martin⁽⁵⁾. Recently the same mnemonic is used to address the post operative issues in patients of surgical icu by Abhijit et al in 2017⁽⁶⁾.

The COVID pandemic has been an unprecedented challenge to healthcare systems worldwide, particularly bringing into sharp focus critical care medicine and issues of assisted respiration, oxygen support, mechanical ventilation, infection control practices and occupational safety. Never has standards of ICU care provided being under such wide and public scrutiny.

The challenges posed by this novel coronavirus has been magnified by the complex nature of the disease process, limited pharmacological options and need for continuous fluidity in assessment and treatment protocols.