What is the situation like in the local hospitals?
The intensive care units are “well utilized”, but “far away” from overcrowding, says Dr.
Martin Dotzer.
Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen
- One of the biggest worries in the pandemic is that intensive care beds are running out.
The Oberland is still "far removed" from this scenario, despite the persistently high number of infections, assures Dr.
Martin Dotzer from the Murnau Accident Clinic.
He is the medical coordinator for the districts of Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen, Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Weilheim-Schongau.
In the intensive care register of the German Interdisciplinary Association for Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine (DIVI), the picture fluctuates a little from day to day.
While two of the 24 intensive care beds in Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen were free on Wednesday, the number rose to five again on Thursday.
According to press spokesman Christopher Horn, the intensive care unit at the Asklepios City Clinic in Bad Tölz has a total of 14 beds, including ten intensive care beds and four “intermediate care” beds (a kind of link between intensive care and normal ward).
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Dr.
Martin Dotzer, Oberland Medical Coordinator
© private
Eleven beds were occupied on Wednesday, three of them with Covid patients.
In addition, three Covid patients and four suspected Covid cases were treated as inpatients (not intensive care) at this time.
A request to this effect from the Wolfratshausen district clinic remained unanswered at the time of going to press.
It happens again and again that the intensive care beds in the smaller houses - including the clinics in Bad Tölz and Wolfratshausen - are full on individual days, explains Dotzer.
However, it is crucial to think outside the box.
Rescue service area Oberland has seven acute clinics with around 110 intensive care beds
Because the entire Oberland rescue service has a total of seven acute clinics with around 110 intensive care beds.
Especially thanks to the two large clinics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Murnau, the Oberland - in relation to its around 380,000 inhabitants - is in a comfortable location.
“Which rural district already has that?
This is our gift. "
At the same time Dotzer admits: "Yes, the occupancy has increased moderately in the past few weeks." When talking to the Tölzer Kurier on Wednesday, he mentioned the number of 13 free intensive care beds in the network - three weeks ago it was 30.
Planned operations and other treatments continue to take place
But if necessary, the capacity can be increased further.
In an emergency by another 100 beds within 48 hours.
Then, however, all other hospital operations would be paralyzed.
The recently declared disaster also gave him, as a medical coordinator, the opportunity to instruct clinics to only admit emergency patients.
However, this is currently not necessary.
"At the moment, the following applies: The clinics have to care for emergency and infection patients - they can do anything beyond that as long as care for the first two groups is guaranteed."
For the Tölz Asklepios Clinic, press spokesman Horn says that planned operations and other treatments will continue to be carried out.
Operations and treatments that are not urgent will only be postponed if there is a further increase in inpatient Covid 19 cases.
"This only happens in individual cases at the moment," says Horn.
Caring for Covid patients means considerable additional work
Of course, there is no question of a relaxed situation in the intensive care units.
“They are already well used,” says Dotzer.
Covid sufferers "mean a lot more work," said the doctor.
“They need a lot of therapy, and you can't just walk into their room, you can only do that with full protective equipment.” It is also not easily possible to replace the employees in need of relaxation with other staff.
Will the lockdown bring relief to clinics?
“We need at least another 14 days before we see an effect,” says Dotzer.
Because corona cases only arrive in hospitals with a delay.
Those who have the first contact with those affected are the local doctors.
And they are currently responding "that the influx of infection patients is decreasing somewhat".
The fact that there are fewer other accidents due to the elimination of the New Year's Eve and the closure of the ski areas can also contribute to relaxation in the clinics.
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