Penelope Canonico
04/21/2021 6:00 AM
Clarín.com
Society
Updated 04/21/2021 6:00 AM
The occupation of beds in
sanatoriums and clinics in the City is in
a state of alert, at the limit of saturation (more than 95%).
The outlook is worrying.
In the corridors of some entities they murmur that the health system could be at risk
if the contagion curve continues to rise
exponentially and they pray for compliance with the care measures.
"
The health system is at risk
.
The situation is critical and the rate of growth of cases threatens to overwhelm it.
Like everything, it has limits.
The most important is the qualified personnel ”
, describes Gabriel Barbagallo, manager of institutional relations at OSDE.
Unlike last year, several institutions report that they lack disposable economic and human resources and that they are having problems with the disposal of certain drugs.
“We can have respirators to cover 80 beds, but not enough staff.
We need nurses and physical therapists, for example, ”says Célica Irrazabal, head of the intensive care division of the Hospital de Clínicas.
According to the latest report issued by the Ministry of National Health,
a percentage of 64.9% of beds are affected in the country, while 75% in AMBA
.
On the other hand, in Ciudad they are working 100% in most of the therapies, according to Arnaldo Dubin, head of intensive therapy at the Otamendi Sanatorium.
“The setting is dramatic.
We are juggling.
The system is saturated because
the cases grow with an uncontrollable speed ”
, he emphasizes.
Due to the increase in cases of coronavirus, they warn that intensive therapies are at the limit in terms of material and human resources.
A nurse from the intensive care unit takes advantage of a short break to make a private call on the door of
the Bazterrica Clinic
.
He confirms to an acquaintance that hospitalized covid patients cannot receive visitors.
Family members wait in the hall, others consult and request information from the administration and the guard, attentive to compliance with the protocol.
Health system at the limit
In the city
sanatoriums and clinics,
the percentage of covid today exceeds 70% within intensive care (before the proportion increased again, in the Hospital de Clínicas it always remained 30%). For example, there between 70% and 80% is destined to patients with Covid, while
the remaining 20%, to critics who present other pathologies
.
“We program based on the daily admission of patients to be able to provide them with a non-improvised destination. We detect those who potentially require therapy and those who are able to leave the intensive care unit. We have transformed the therapy area with progressive care based on
the isolation of the internees so that they cannot infect each other
. We usually have between 2 and 3 daily admissions to therapy and between 2 and 3 discharges per day ”,
Dr. Irrazabal
explains to
Clarín
.
Given the congestion of the system due to the high demand for intensive care units, some measures were taken to avoid the collapse of the healthcare system.
Deprogram surgeries that may be postponed
; make common beds more complex and become critical; or medicalize hotel beds to serve low complexity patients. "We have also strengthened all access channels and the capacity for attention has increased, in an effortful and laborious way, but
the current speed of infections makes these advances invisible
,
"
says Barbagallo.
Following this line, the prepaid OSDE increased the number of beds to the maximum of the offer, adding hundreds of units that did not appear in the books. But, what happens with those pathologies that cannot wait to be treated? From the clinics they agree that
there is no neglect but rather saturation of the occupation of beds
and that, by all means, it is sought that patients are in a sanitary and controlled environment.
“There are no beds, but I have two critical patients in therapy who can be referred if there is an emergency.
If the time comes to run out of space, we have extraordinary resources so that patients can receive what they need.
For example:
different mechanical ventilation devices
, opening of operating rooms, transferring respirators to a common room room, even pediatricians willing to receive young people who should be hospitalized ”, explains Irrazabal.
SC
Look also
Due to the increase in cases, the Fernández hospital therapy will only attend Covid cases
Report of the Argentine Society of Intensive Care: there is 95% occupation in the AMBA and 64% are cases of Covid