Rapid development of an international radiographers online training resource
Aligned with our mission to advance the understanding and impact of microbiology, the Society reached out to our community of microbiologists to share their experiences in responding to SARS-CoV-2. We aim to showcase the perspective of scientists during the COVID-19 pandemic and the variety of roles adopted to mitigate the global crisis.
This is the first of two case studies written by Dr Chloe James, a Lecturer of Medical Microbiology at the University of Salford, UK. She recounts her experience of contributing to the University of Salford-led effort to develop new e-learning resources for radiographers caring for patients with COVID-19. She highlights the difficulties of working on this fast-paced, international effort involving over 40 people, whilst working remotely.
How did you respond to SARS-CoV-2 during the COVID-19 pandemic?
The University of Salford led an international effort to develop new e-learning resources for radiographers caring for patients with COVID-19. This was in response to a growing demand for CT scans and mobile chest X-rays as the coronavirus pandemic spread and not all radiographers were up-to-date on these techniques. The project created an online information and support system, with a particular focus on training and advice for radiographers carrying out mobile chest X-rays of patients who have coronavirus.
Professor Peter Hogg, our Professor of Radiography, and Ken Holmes, Senior Lecturer at the University of Cumbria, UK, led the project and coordinated a multinational team of over 40 people, including radiographers and radiography leaders from the UK, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Malta, Singapore, Switzerland and the USA, who volunteered well over a thousand hours of time and expertise between them. As a microbiologist, my contribution, along with colleagues Richard Birtles and Ian Goodhead, was to provide clear information about viruses including what they are, how they replicate, cause, and transmit disease and how vaccination works. We also provided key learning points about coronaviruses, SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 including diagnostic tests and the latest progress in vaccine development.
This online information and support resource meant that tens of thousands of hours would be saved across the world in creating and delivering training materials and more time could be spent on caring for patients. It also provided standardised advice on procedures and use of PPE (recognising that variations could exist between countries and readers were advised to check national and local policies where they exist).
From conception to publication, the system was developed and published within 16 days – a fantastic achievement. The team worked in small sub-groups on specific topics. Once each sub-group produced material about a topic, it was peer reviewed quickly and suggestions were made for improvement; revisions were turned around within hours. At the same time, the team worked closely with Elsevier publishing house to identify articles that could be linked to the website for further reading.
The website was accessed in over 157 countries and had great impact, with letters of support from the college of radiographers and international society of radiographers.
“Chest X-rays became the key diagnostic imaging test to detect and help plan treatment for COVID patients and it was produced at the right moment in the pandemic to have international value. It has been used extensively for educating student radiographers. I believe that the web materials may have resulted in many lives being saved around the world as chest X-ray is the primary diagnostic tool for COVID-19. It is not possible to quantify how many, but we think it is likely to be significant”
- Charlotte Beardmore, Director of Professional Policy at The Society and College of Radiographers, UK
“At the time of writing this, the chest X-ray website has been used by radiographers and radiological technologists in 157 countries. There is no doubt in my mind that the website has saved numerous patients' lives. Also, because the website’s content has a large component about how personal protective equipment should be used, it has also saved many radiographer/radiological technologists’ lives too”.
- Dimitris Katsifarakis, Chief Executive Officer, International Society of Radiographers & Radiological Technologists
Was this response related to your work prior to the outbreak?
Although my research focuses on bacteria and bacteriophages, I teach about basic virology, viral diseases and vaccination at undergraduate and postgraduate level, so I was able to use this knowledge to contribute to the resource.
What were some of the challenges that you faced during this time?
The turnaround time was necessarily very tight in light of the speed that the pandemic was growing. The project also required creation of the copyright-free narrated videos, photographs and artwork in a lockdown society. Nobody could meet in person due to social distancing and for some sub-groups, they didn’t know one another prior to commencing the work. Time zones created additional difficulties, as synchronous working was hard to achieve around the globe. We were also very aware that SARS-CoV-2 was very new and were concerned about the information we had so far quickly going out of date.
How did your experience throughout the response aid in your development?
It was a good experience to work with people in areas that I hadn’t before and to gain a different perspective on the challenges of the pandemic.
What can we learn about the importance of microbiology from the COVID-19 pandemic?
Basic microbiology knowledge is obviously crucial to the understanding of new emerging diseases and development of response strategies. I learned that there is a really broad range of people that can benefit from someone with microbiology know-how on their teams, but that decisions about control and prevention of spread rarely prioritised this know-how.
About the author
Dr Chloe James is a Lecturer in Medical Microbiology at The University of Salford. Find out more about her research on bacteria and bacteriophages.
