"They all do their best!"

BY RICHARD LORENZ

Freising– Franziska Böhme, a qualified health and nursing staff and level manager, can still very well remember Corona patient number 1 in the Freising Clinic: On February 29, Böhme received him in the night shift on the ward. It quickly became clear: Freising is a corona hotspot. Weeks followed in which the nursing team had to push the limits of their resilience.

It starts with harmless cases

Initially, all those who tested positive for Corona were admitted to the hospital in the isolation station specially set up for this purpose - during this first occupancy phase, moderate symptoms with fever, for example, were observed, some even without any symptoms. A “cohort isolation”, that is, several patients in the room, was also possible, since until then only confirmed Covid 19 cases were recorded.

However, things got really serious during the second occupancy phase, the heyday of the new infections in Freising: the patients were increasingly multimorbid, i.e. several pre-ill, often with secondary diagnoses such as dementia. After the carnival vacation, reports nursing director Oliver Hübler, the clinic was already in crisis mode - also because of the developments in Italy. "The clinic was affected very early - the uncertainty in the first few days was great, we just knew very little," said Hübler in retrospect.

However, clinic employees were able to provide an approximate picture of the danger situation by calling friends and relatives abroad. It was thanks to the high level of commitment of the employees in nursing, medicine and support areas that this crisis was dealt with professionally. When the number of patients continued to increase massively, another level for Covid 19 patients was transformed into an isolation unit within an afternoon.

Worsening of the condition: "This is going damn quickly"

With up to 67 Covid-19 patients, including 13 ventilators, the hospital was in the peak infection phase before an impressive overall performance: employees were distributed, the care key was raised - 18 additional nurses were deployed in the intensive care unit alone, to continue to ensure the quality of care.

Nursing director and management met daily for a jour fix in order to adapt to current needs and react promptly to problems. "The interdisciplinary work with all employees is great - the cohesion has improved significantly", emphasizes the Intensiv station manager, Ivonne Sartor. "They all do their best!"

Very important for Sartor at this time: taking care of the employees. Because the need for discussion increased with the increasing number of patients also among the employees. What was surprising for all of them was the often rapid deterioration in the condition of some Covid 19 patients: "This is damn quickly," emphasizes the deputy head of the emergency room, Martin Frey. Within a very short period of time, these patients then become ventilators with a length of stay in the intensive care unit of up to 30 days. Sartor mentions the low death rate of the ventilators in Freising as a positive event - but at the same time warns against the false belief that it can only affect old people with previous illnesses. In the clinic, a 40-year-old with Covid-19 had to be ventilated without previous illnesses - but that, according to the intensive management, people "are not aware of and not yet in their heads".

A 40-year-old without previous illness also had to be ventilated

Böhme can also report something similar from the Iso station: "We had 30-year-olds here, they were really bad!" Because: It is not only the previous illnesses that are important, but above all the viral load in the body, says Böhme.

Now in the calmer phase with around 20 Covid 19 patients, it is necessary to consider which further steps will be taken. According to Hübler, an isolation level must be maintained for the time being. The general disposition for the emergency operation of the clinics is valid until May 15, after which "normal operation" should start again - however, this still requires some adjustments to the processes and structures. According to Hübler, it will be demanded, but in his opinion there will be no “real normal operation” like before Corona in the foreseeable future - also because the development of the number of cases cannot be estimated.

Hope for higher esteem

According to the press spokesman for the house, Sascha Alexander, one has to be more careful anyway, because Freising "simply has more" with Corona patients. The hospital treated a total of 250 patients with the virus in a very short time - but there was often a "different perception" among the population. However, Alexander also reports that the citizens are very sympathetic - even though we “only do our job”, says Böhme. In her opinion, it would be gratifying if the crisis led to more people wanting to learn and practice this profession.

Hübler also calls for a higher esteem for care: "This profession deserves an attractive organization of working hours and pay!" After all, care is "an essential component in the treatment and care of sick people".

Richard Lorenz

Read also: Corona: Pinhole in downtown make minimum clearances impossible. SE Freising: Coach Plabst is only occasionally asking for training. New network of young Moosburg politicians: Here Philipp Fincke (FDP) defends himself against allegations of Klüngel.