Hans Rosling's recent Factpod episode (below) highlighted the importance of Contact Tracing as a means of systematically diminishing and preventing the spread of disease to the zero-exposure level. Watch the 5 minute video to see how the simple yet brilliant concept of Contact Tracing works, and why it is needed to achieve zero-exposure.
Inspired by this, I have prepared a simple contact tracing form for anyone (medical teams or private individuals) to download, print, and use to list all places and people that have come in contact with a patient.
Get the free Contact tracing form PDF here
The form allows the patient to think sequentially through the previous week about where they went on each day in the morning and afternoon. Human memory is heavily influenced by spatial awareness (source: Burgess, Maguire, & O'Keefe 2002, The human hippocampus and spatial and episodic memory). So by thinking first about where the patient was during the infectious period, remembering interactions with other people becomes easier to do, yielding more complete contact trace information.
By having the patient record all the places they went during the infectious period, medical workers can map all points of exposure from that source, allowing those areas to be given information and resources to suppress the spread of the disease. By recording public places visited by the patient, medical workers also gain an indication of possible exposure to persons unknown to the patient who are not listed on the contact tracing form.
By recording who was there at the same time as the patient, medical workers are able to quickly contact persons who have been exposed and who may be in infected without yet knowing it. This is vital -- by screening infected persons while they're still in the incubation stage for the full 21 days Rosling describes, the spread of the disease is completely stopped at that source. This also allows people who are infected to receive the treatment they need.
By having the patient record all the places they went during the infectious period, medical workers can map all points of exposure from that source, allowing those areas to be given information and resources to suppress the spread of the disease. By recording public places visited by the patient, medical workers also gain an indication of possible exposure to persons unknown to the patient who are not listed on the contact tracing form.
By recording who was there at the same time as the patient, medical workers are able to quickly contact persons who have been exposed and who may be in infected without yet knowing it. This is vital -- by screening infected persons while they're still in the incubation stage for the full 21 days Rosling describes, the spread of the disease is completely stopped at that source. This also allows people who are infected to receive the treatment they need.
RSS Feed
