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"We have to vaccinate as much as we can"

2021-11-18T19:39:47.674Z


Because of the increasing number of corona intensive care patients, the Helios Amper Clinic Dachau is also at the limit.


Because of the increasing number of corona intensive care patients, the Helios Amper Clinic Dachau is also at the limit.

Dachau - There is no end in sight, on the contrary: triage threatens.

Alexander von Freyburg, Pandemic Officer and Senior Physician in Emergency Aid, and Professor Dr.

Interview with Hjalmar Hagedorn, Medical Director.

Please explain the triage once.

Alexander von Freyburg: In modern medicine, the term triage is a standard term used to define an initial assessment of the urgency of treatment in the ambulance service and in the emergency room.

It is clear that a clinic's resources are not infinite.

During treatment, an initial assessment must be made as to which patient will be treated first.


For example, a patient with a heart attack takes precedence over someone with a sprained ankle.

Nonetheless, the aim of this initial assessment is to offer all patients the best possible treatment, even if longer waiting times may have to be accepted - only for those for whom the basic problem does not worsen during this time.

What is the situation like in times of pandemics?

Alexander von Freyburg: Covid 19 sufferers are sometimes under medical care for weeks - and with increasing infections, the number of those who need intensive medical treatment, but also normal inpatient care, increases.

In addition to the Covid 19 patients, all other emergencies must of course be taken care of.

And inpatient treatment must also be carried out, which is not an emergency but can no longer be postponed.

One example of this are tumor operations.

Have there already been triage cases at the Dachau hospital?

When do you expect the first?

von Freyburg: So far, all acute medical patients could be cared for. We have already postponed inpatient treatments for which it was possible. We have also strengthened the teams in the intensive care center and significantly increased the number of usable beds in the normal Covid ward. By declaring a disaster, it is also possible for us to relocate patients to more distant clinics that still have free treatment capacities. Overall, however, it is to be feared that these possibilities will also become fewer and that sooner or later situations will arise in which decisions have to be made in order to redistribute the available resources. How soon this can happen depends on whether the fourth wave can be broken and a further increase in the number of infections prevented.

How well are the staff prepared for the situation?

Prof. Hjalmar Hagedorn: We already deployed our employees from the operating room and from other functional areas in the first corona waves in the intensive care center and introduced them accordingly to the professional handling of the devices and the ongoing processes.

The patients now benefit from this knowledge and experience.

All colleagues are emotionally taken by the first three waves.

It is difficult for all of us to understand and accept that a renewed wave of Covid-19 patients requires medical care, although this could have been avoided with sufficient vaccinations.

What support do you offer the staff?

Hagedorn: In order to support our colleagues in the intensive care center, we have deployed employees from other departments there, for example staff from the operating room or anesthesia. Employees who come from nursing and are now employed in other departments also now support us. We have daily meetings with the nursing director, colleagues from the operating theater and intensive care and the ward managers, in which we discuss current operational plans. In addition to the free supply of drinks and food on duty, we also offer our employees in the Covid areas the opportunity to exchange ideas with our crisis intervention teams from the hospital pastoral care or external psychologists after stressful situations.There are also offers from the area of ​​occupational health management. We have learned from the past waves that everyone involved reacts very differently to the stresses and strains and that individual support offers are therefore necessary. That is why we are in close contact with ward managers, spokespersons for the assistant doctors and other managers.

How many Covid patients are currently in the intensive care and IMC ward, and how many patients have other diseases?

How old are the corona patients, are there also vaccinated people among them?

Hagedorn: There are currently eleven patients in our intensive care unit, six of whom are sick with Covid-19 and a further ten patients in our IMC ward, four of whom are sick with Covid-19.

Currently, 70 percent of Covid 19 patients in the intensive care and IMC wards are not vaccinated, the rest are highly vulnerable patients who unfortunately received the second vaccination more than six months ago.

The age is between 31 and 83 years, the average is 57.9 years.

How many employees do you currently have in the intensive care unit and in the IMC ward?

Hagedorn: We currently have 72 active employees there.

How many employees have you lost in the past few months?

Hagedorn: This year we lost five nurses at the IMC and Intensiv.

Fortunately, we have already been able to recruit five new employees for this area.

How many Covid patients are currently in the normal ward?

von Freyburg: There are currently 20 Covid-19 patients between the ages of 37 and 95 in our normal ward, here too the vast majority of patients are unvaccinated - the breakthrough infections are exclusively very old patients with serious previous illnesses who suffered from Covid- 19 fell ill before they could get a third vaccination.

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Professor Dr.

Hjalmar Hagedorn, Medical Director

© Helios

What percentage have you already had to shut down operations?

Hagedorn: We have already significantly reduced our operating room capacities - from seven to five rooms - in order to be able to deploy staff in the intensive care and monitoring ward as well as in the Covid-19 ward.

A further reduction to three halls is planned in order to be able to further increase the intensive capacity.

How many beds could you add to the ICU and IMC if you had the staff?

Hagedorn: 16 ventilation places are available in the intensive care unit, 18 treatment places in the IMC.

What can be done to prevent triage?

von Freyburg: Everyone needs to act quickly, independently and in solidarity. SARS-COV-2 spreads via aerosols - wherever people come into contact, the virus is among us. We must continue to vaccinate as much as we can - this applies to both the first and second vaccination as well as the third. This is the only way we can protect against symptomatic illness and prevent admission to the intensive care unit or even death. It is also important to adhere to the AHA + L rules - avoid crowds, wear a mask and reduce the aerosol load through regular ventilation. We appeal to people to significantly reduce their contacts.

Hagedorn: And of course, the following applies: testing, testing, testing - both in the case of symptoms using a PCR test to identify and isolate Covid-19 sufferers at an early stage, and regularly using an antigen test to identify asymptomatic patients.

The same applies here: Reduce contacts and create the opportunity to do so, such as working from home.

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2021-11-18

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