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9,000 intensive care beds fewer than in 2020: Why beds are being “locked” more and more often is alarming

2021-04-08T19:28:54.385Z


The coronavirus is currently causing increasing occupancy in hospitals, but at the same time the available intensive care beds are shrinking. The reason is alarming.


The coronavirus is currently causing increasing occupancy in hospitals, but at the same time the available intensive care beds are shrinking.

The reason is alarming.

Berlin - In many cases, the corona virus only causes mild symptoms or even no symptoms at all, but many people are also seriously ill with the virus.

High-risk patients in particular run the risk of experiencing a severe course of the disease, some of them even have to be treated in hospital or in the intensive care unit.

Experts warned against overloading the health system from the start, but now the situation in the intensive care units raises questions.

Corona in Germany: intensive care beds are shrinking - fewer free places than in 2020

As

Bild

now reports with reference to the German Interdisciplinary Association of Intensive Care and Emergency Physicians (DIVI), patients in Germany were still around 32,000 intensive care beds available in the summer of 2020, now there should be only 23,000 free beds.

As the portal continues to report, citing the DIVI, around 4,700 corona patients are currently in intensive care units in Germany.

But why are there fewer intensive care beds available than last summer?

Nina Meckel, spokeswoman for the intensive register, explained exactly this phenomenon to the newspaper.

Accordingly, a tightened care key is to blame for the declining intensive care places.

Since January 1, 2021, each carer may only be responsible for two beds during the day and three at night.

Previously, nurses were allowed to look after 2.5 or 3.5 beds.

In the first corona wave, this care key was initially overridden, and from August 1st it was initially reintroduced.

On January 1, 2021, it was even tightened, according to Meckel.

Corona in Germany: A lack of nursing staff ensures that beds in clinics are locked

It is precisely this tightened care key that actually blocks fully functional intensive care beds.

Because: if there is no nursing staff who can look after the existing beds, the beds have to be locked.

In addition to the already current shortage of staff, the spokeswoman for the intensive registry explains that nursing staff are also infected or are usually absent due to illness.

For every nurse who is absent, clinics then have to delete the number of beds allocated to him, the spokeswoman explains to

Bild

.

“Many people persevere because they see that they are particularly needed at the moment.

But we also see that nurses are leaving their jobs because the stress becomes too high after a year of emergency, ”

Bild

quotes

Nina Meckel further.

The current corona numbers in Germany initially promise an easing of the situation, but a look at an RKI forecast makes it clear: it could also be the calm before the storm.

Joko and Klaas documented the shift of a nurse from Münster.

The response is huge.

Jens Spahn also spoke at a press conference.

List of rubric lists: © Jens Büttner / dpa-Zentralbild / dpa

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2021-04-08

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