Intensive care units: the situation in Salzburg remains tense
The relief came through the relocation of the first two, which came from four seriously ill people from Covid to Vienna, and some patients were also switched to therapy on a normal ward.
Prognosis: the number of patients is increasing
According to forecasts, the number of hospital patients is likely to continue to rise. Already yesterday there was a short-term surplus of seven intensive care patients in the university hospital. 17 more Covid intensive care beds prepared – and the self-drawn upper limit increased from 51 to 68. However, this step is at the expense of all other intensive care patients. Of a total of 135 intensive care beds in Salzburg, just over half are now reserved for corona sufferers.
Sungler: “Not the time for risk sports”
Sungler therefore appealed to the people of Salzburg to adapt their leisure time behavior. “It is not the time for high-risk sports because the intensive care units are needed and needed elsewhere.” In view of the circumstances, elective interventions would no longer take place; if operations were necessary, two to three a day would currently be postponed by one to two days, said clinics spokesman Wolfgang Fürweger on Thursday for the APA. “There have been no triages so far.”
30 sessions in seven days
The fact that the situation in the intensive care units is not even more serious is probably due to two facts: On the one hand, the Salzburg hospitals alone reported 30 days in the past seven days. On the other hand, there is likely to be a relatively large number of people in the state with an advance directive – and patients who explicitly state that they no longer want to be treated in an intensive care unit because of their poor prognosis. “These people no longer come to the intensive care unit,” even the clinic spokesman.
Normal ward: 202 beds occupied
On Thursday morning 202 out of 250 possible Covid beds were occupied in the normal wards in the Salzburg hospitals. At the same time, the first “Covid Transfer Station” went into operation today. It should be staffed by 15 patients by the beginning of next week who are still corona-positive and do not need much more care, but who cannot yet return home for various reasons. Patients on the transfer ward no longer appear in the normal ward statistics.
Hospital staff shortages
The main problem for hospitals is the shortage of staff. According to SALK managing director Sungler, an additional 350 must be blocked for the 164 Covid sufferers alone in the normal wards of the state hospital beds. The reason: The care of corona patients is much more complex than that of non-Covid patients. In addition, there would be 160 beds that have been blocked for weeks due to a lack of staff. “We are practically an entire hospital at the back of the maximum level of care.”
It is true that 20 anesthesia nurses at the university clinic recently succeeded in bringing them to intensive use, because they have received a similar training as intensive care nurses. “But we don’t know where we can recruit more nurses to take care of our patients,” said Sungler.
(Source: APA)