At the weekly press conference with Jens Spahn and Lothar Wieler, an intensive care nurse was also on the podium this Thursday.
He criticized politics sharply.
Berlin - The situation in the German intensive care units is still tense, said Lothar Wieler, President of the Robert Koch Institute on Thursday, the burden for doctors and nurses is very high. Unfortunately, according to Wieler, the number of deaths is also increasing again at the moment. A consequence of “the consistently high number of cases”. Everything must be done to bring the numbers down again. "This is the only way we can relieve hospitals."
The scenario that the RKI President showed at the press conference with Health Minister Jens Spahn is currently being repeated almost mantra-like every week.
The intensive care registry records over 5000 patients in German hospitals who require intensive medical treatment.
Many clinics are at their limit.
That is why intensive care nurse Ricardo Lange was on the podium this Thursday.
He was here to report on the work on the ward, said Lange.
Intensive care nurse Ricardo Lange sounds the alarm: "Intensive care units are full"
The intensive care nurse working at Berlin clinics described the situation in the corona pandemic with haunting and direct words.
"The intensive care units are full, there is no room for interpretation," he said.
Politicians have long criticized the fact that the personnel shortage in the industry had not been addressed years ago.
He described the high physical strain caused by the protective equipment, but also the psychological challenges: "In normal times, patients die differently," said Lange.
Relatives could accompany the sick over a longer period of time.
Now only one last visit to the impending death is possible.
The last picture that the dying saw are relatives in complete protective gear, there is no physical contact.
Intensive care nurse describes the situation in the hospital: "That does something to you"
Nurses then packed the deceased in black plastic bags to protect against infection.
“We put it in there and zip it up.
Believe me when I tell you: It does something to you, ”said Lange.
You don't do this just a few times, you do it countless times.
Better working conditions are more important to him than bonuses.
So far, there is no coherent concept to prevent overload and to support nursing staff.
He is aware of a certain operational blindness, said the intensive care nurse.
“Of course, I only see the severe courses, I only see people who mostly die from it.” But the reverse is also true, he emphasized: Those who do not work in an intensive care unit or are affected in their private surroundings only see the slight courses and people who do not get sick.
"That in turn does not mean that the difficult courses do not exist."
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Spahn explained how Lange's appearance came about: After a conversation between Spahn and the actor Jan-Josef Liefers about the controversial action #allesdichtmachen, the nurse pointed out that the situation in intensive care units should also play a role. "Then I said that today would be a good opportunity." (Fmü / dpa)