Early Response of the Orthopaedic Trauma Community to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Background With the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic, medical systems and providers have been forced to undertake substantial changes to staffing structure, hospital policy, and surgical indications to remain able to care for patients and protect the providers. Here, we present a survey of orthopaedic trauma fellowship directors to assess when and what changes these individual units have made in order to cope with this global pandemic. Methods The survey was distributed via email to all 62 programs listed in the Orthopaedic Trauma Association web site. Results Twenty four responses were received. The majority of programs implemented changes between March 1(st) and 14(th), with nearly all splitting teams into individual units, incorporating virtual sign out, and reducing the number of available, i.e. exposed, staff, fellows, and residents at any particular time. Conclusions These changes have been implemented in order to proactively maintain the functionality of these vital teams to patient care with no definite end point to this pandemic in sight. We hope this study provides other trauma centers and orthopaedic practices insight into possible precautions that can be taken in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.