The Situation in Bergamo: “We are far beyond the tipping point and beyond!”
Bergamo – the 120,000 inhabitants city in the North of Italy in the picturesque old town was until recently a popular destination in the affluent Lombardy. At the time, the Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 is raging particularly strongly. A Team of Doctors from the Region published a report that shows that the Region has come in the last days completely out of control. Today’s patient-focused care was not prepared for pandemics such as COVID-19 just fine, warns the Team.
Intensive care medicine internal and intensive care physician from a clinic in the city of Bergamo describe the current situation in the Covid-19 affected the hospital Papa Giovanni XXIII. The Team referred to the situation as a humanitarian crisis, which was overcome with a centralized health care. The report was recently published in the renowned journal “NEJM Catalyst”.
Bergamo is Italy’s epicenter of the COVID-19-epidemic
Lombardy is one of the richest and most densely populated regions of Europe and is today among the most affected. “We are working in the hospital Papa Giovanni XXIII. in Bergamo, one beds brand new, state of the art facility with 48 intense,“ reported the medical team. Although it is a relatively small city, is the epicenter of the Italian COVID-19-epidemic. Thousands of cases are currently registered – more than in Milan or elsewhere in the country.
Total Overload
“Our own hospital is highly contaminated, and we are far beyond the tipping point and beyond,” explain the doctors. 300 of 900 beds are occupied with Covid-19-Concerned. As many as 70 per cent of intensive care beds for seriously ill Covid-19-patients and in -patients with a reasonable chance of Survival reserved. The entire hospital is working far below the normal standard of Care.
This manifests itself, according to the report by, for example, older patients and patients will not be revived. They are dying without adequate palliative care and will be treated physically and emotionally exhausted staff that previously had no personal contact to the Affected had.
Out of control
The hospital is the specialists, is still relatively good. The Situation in the area was even worse. Most of the hospitals were over-crowded and would not be on the verge of collapse, while medications, mechanical ventilators, oxygen and personal protective equipment are available.
The Affected are on mattresses on the floor. The cemeteries do not keep up with the funerals, pregnancy care and deliveries falter and also the Situation in the prisons is the Doctors, according to the always explosive. “Unfortunately, the outside world seems not to know that this outbreak is in Bergamo out of control,” writes the Team in the current report.
Pandemic-solutions for all – not just for hospitals
“We know, for example, that hospitals are the main carriers of Covid-could be 19, as they are quickly Infected populated, which facilitates the Transmission to non-infected persons,” said the team of Doctors. The transport of the Infected could also contribute to the spread, since the ambulance and the staff are Vectors to. Other healthcare workers can be asymptomatic Carriers.
New ways to deal with pandemics
Pandemic solutions. for this reason, for the entire population, not just for hospitals. Home care and mobile clinics could relieve unnecessary movements of Infected prevent and hospitals. Oxygen therapy could be laid in the houses of slightly diseased patients where the treatment could be monitored using a telemedicine system.
This approach could the hospital be protected to limit stays to the most severe cases, eliminating the infection reduces, medical personnel and the use of protective equipment is minimized could be.
The Coronavirus is the Ebola virus of the Rich is
“This outbreak is more than just a phenomenon of intensive care medicine, rather, it is a public health crisis and humanitarian aid”, underlines the Team. The Coronavirus could be referred to as the Ebola virus of the Rich. It requires a coordinated, transnational effort to contain it.
It hits where it hurts the health care
“It is not particularly deadly, but it is very contagious,” write the Doctors. The stronger the society, medically, and centralized is organized, the more the Virus spread. The disaster that is unfolding currently in the Lombardy, could happen anywhere where the healthcare system is structured in a similar way – that is, in almost all Western countries. (vb)