Protocolo para el manejo de cadáveres confirmados de COVID-19 para el Cementerio de Pasquilla

Abstract

The emergence of a new strain of the SARS-COV-2 coronavirus family, which derives in the COVID-19 respiratory disease, has claimed more than 5.731.345 deaths in the world and in Colombia a figure that is close to 135.239 people, as of february of this year (Ministry of health and social protection of colombia, 2022). This has forced the adoption of guidelines for the management of these bodies by the World and Pan American Health Organization and, failing that, by the Colombian health authorities. These measures consisted, in the first year of the pandemic, in performing cremation procedures of corpses, unaccompanied by family members, which is why it is important to develop a protocol for the burial of corpses. This protocol is understood as a set of rules that allow to carry out a series of activities that facilitate the burial procedures and whose application allows to dignify the mourning process, through the responsible and safe accompaniment, through the implementation of biosafety standards. The elaboration of the protocol was carried out in three phases, which consisted of the collection of information, diagnosis, the actual design of the protocol, as well as a phase where measures oriented to the management of liquid waste are proposed. The results obtained include the current state of the cemetery and cover legal, administrative and structural aspects, as well as technical and human resources, among others. These were contrasted with the regulatory requirements and documentation applicable to the management of COVID-19 corpses, in order to finally generate a protocol that adjusts to the characteristics of the Pasquilla cemetery, thus satisfying the sanitary requirements and meeting the ethical and psychosocial needs generated within the framework of the sanitary emergency