Doctors worldwide are collaborating to save people with 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19), using innovative techniques and treatments.

Robert J. Cerfolio, MD, MBA, executive vice president and vice dean, chief of hospital operations at NYU Langone Health and director of clinical thoracic surgery, and colleagues at NYU Langone have developed a newer and perhaps safer approach to tracheostomy that allows for easier removal of secretions from the airway of patients with COVID-19.

The tracheostomy procedure has been advised against for treatment of patients with COVID-19 by many surgical and medical professional organizations because of the safety risk it poses to clinicians, but Dr. Cerfolio overrode the guidance and developed a new protocol to keep doctors and patients safe.

“We’ve done 63 of these and not a single doctor or nurse has gotten sick—not one. Sixty-two of the patients are still alive. We know we can do it safely, and we know we are helping patents.”

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