In a worsening situation, some caregivers may need to change their Christmas plans.
Hospital care the need in the Helsinki and Uusimaa hospital district (Hus) in the area of Christmas may increase to about twice the current level, says the chief physician in charge of infectious diseases Asko Järvinen To HS.
“At Hus, we are preparing for a maximum increase in the number of patients at that level. I believe that here we will go to bigger problems and the number of patients in healthcare towards the end of the year and the beginning of the year. ”
On Friday there were 57 patients in the Hus area and 14 in the intensive care unit. The worst situation at Hus hospitals was in April 2020, when there were 80 patients in the wards and 43 people in the intensive care unit.
Järvinen estimates that the need for intensive care may not become as difficult now, as coronary vaccinations protect against a serious form of the disease.
Husissa however, is Hus ’director of diagnostics and a member of the management team Lasse Lehtonen according to the readiness to increase the number of intensive care units by about 2.5 times, ie to 200-300 places. In that case, the capacity of intensive care units would be the same as in the spring.
Normally, Hus has 80-90 intensive care units.
“It will be a huge number of patients if the scenarios materialize. There will certainly be challenges during the Christmas holidays without a strong emergency brake application, ”says Lehtonen.
Worryingly the development is underpinned by the omicron transformation of the coronavirus, which is spreading rapidly around the world. In addition, the immune protection of the vaccinated population in Finland is gradually declining, and a large part of the population will have to wait for the third vaccination until the turn of the year.
There is a risk that hospitals will be overburdened with coronary heart disease and that the care of other patients will not be secured.
Lehtonen according to him, the only hope is that vaccinations would protect against a serious form of the disease.
“Unfortunately, it looks like omikron will be able to get through the vaccination shelter. If, despite vaccinations, significant diseases occur in significant quantities, medical care is really in big trouble. ”
As the number of infections increases, non-vaccinators in particular are at a much higher risk of becoming infected.
Järvinen considers it likely that a large part of the vaccinated population will also become infected with the coronavirus if the spread of omicron continues at the current rate.
“I don’t think feasible methods of restraint can prevent that.”
Hus announced on Friday that it will raise its preparedness to full preparedness due to a worsening coronavirus epidemic.
In practice, this means preparing for a crisis situation where the hospital management has the authority to deploy staff from other units to treat coronary patients. At the same time, care debt increases as treatment for other illnesses is delayed.
If coronary patients the number is rising sharply, so staff will have to be referred from non-emergency care to coronary heart disease. In this case, for example, pre-agreed measures, such as surgeries, may have to be postponed, according to Järvinen.
“Inpatient places are needed for patients other than those recovering from surgery.”
According to Järvinen, it is difficult to predict how much urgent care would have to be transferred. At Christmas, for example, major cuts are made less than usual because staff are on holiday.
If the situation develops as predicted, some caregivers may need to change their Christmas plans. However, it is difficult to cancel agreed holidays.
“I have to try to appeal to the staff. If necessary, attempts are made to get people to work with shift allowances. It is definitely an awkward place, ”says Järvinen.
Lehtonen according to bonuses may not be enough.
“At this point in the pandemic, the outfit is starting to get so tired that it is not very easy to go on shifts even with money during the Christmas holidays. There is a big fear that not enough staff will be available if the situation worsens. ”
One possibility is to have recourse to the Standby Act, which gives the right to assign health care personnel to work in exceptional circumstances. Lehtonen and Järvinen do not want to comment on the introduction of the Standby Act.
.
#Coronavirus #Hus #hospital #care #double #quickly #huge #number #patients #scenarios #materialize #Husin #Lehtonen
source https://pledgetimes.com/coronavirus-hus-the-need-for-hospital-care-can-double-quickly-its-a-huge-number-of-patients-if-the-scenarios-materialize-says-husin-lehtonen/
Disqus comments