When COVID-19 was spreading across Italy in February 2020, all eyes at David Grant U.S. Air Force Medical Center at Travis Air Force Base, California were fixated on the unfolding pandemic, realizing their hospital may potentially be one of the first to be impacted.
Air Force Lt. Col. Laurie Migliore, acting director, Clinical Investigation Facility and director of Biobehavioral Research, along with essential medical personnel were charged with reviewing Grant s Crisis Standards of Care, particularly the availability of palliative care for potential COVID-19 patients.
Migliore said it became evident from seeing the death rates in Italy that DGMC may be impacted with unprecedented numbers of critically ill and potentially dying patients. They had to be ready to provide both medical and palliative care.