Medical site in Osaka facing the crisis of bankruptcy What I saw in close contact 24 hours a day May 28, 23:08
The state of emergency to Osaka and other areas has been extended again.
The reason is the tight medical system.
What is the actual situation at the site?
NHK stayed in close contact with the lifesaving center in Osaka for 24 hours on the day when the third state of emergency was declared.
What I saw there was the current state of community medicine on the verge of collapse, which has had a major impact on medical care other than corona.
(Osaka base broadcasting station reporter Saaya Inoue Mikio Tanabe)
9:00 AM Only one more person can be accepted
Osaka Prefectural Nakagawachi Emergency and Critical Care Center in Higashi Osaka City.
Of the 30 beds, 10 are used to treat critically ill patients with the new corona.
April 25, when the third state of emergency was declared in Osaka, is Sunday.
Two doctors on duty are available 24 hours a day from 9 am to treat inpatients and accept emergency patients.
The number of newly infected people in Osaka Prefecture up to the day before has exceeded 1,000 for five consecutive days.
The number of seriously ill patients in Osaka Prefecture is 348, which is much higher than the 287 beds, which is a critical situation.
Nine people are also hospitalized in the hospital's new Corona critical sickbed, and there is only one more room to accept Corona patients.
9:30 AM An injured person in a traffic accident in the distance
9:30 am.
A woman in her 50s who was seriously injured was transported.
This hospital is the only life-saving center in the area and is, so to speak, the "last bastion" of community medicine.
Other than corona patients will also be transported.
This woman had a broken leg in a car accident in the neighboring city of Osaka.
Usually, a traffic accident that occurs in Osaka city is transported to an emergency hospital near the city.
However, due to the influence of Corona, hospitals in Osaka city refused to accept it.
This hospital in the adjacent Higashi-Osaka city will accept it and will be admitted to the general ward.
Even if there is a traffic accident in Osaka, it is not always transported to a nearby hospital.
PM0: 00 “If there is an opportunity for inspection sooner ...”
It's past midnight.
Another young woman was transported from the neighboring city of Osaka.
The woman had a fever of over 39 degrees.
The value "oxygen saturation", which indicates the state of oxygen in the blood, is as low as 80%, and it seems that it seems to be difficult to breathe.
The woman had a fever three days ago and visited another medical institution.
The PCR test at that time was negative.
I had to see the situation once, and I continued to receive medical treatment at home instead of at a medical institution, but my condition suddenly changed.
The corona test at this hospital also gave a negative result.
On the other hand, a close examination revealed that the woman had another serious illness.
Approximately three hours after being transported, the woman died.
Despite another serious illness, the first hospital I visited was strongly suspected of corona, so only PCR tests were done.
Dr. Hitoshi Yamamura, the director, says that if blood tests are done properly, it is highly possible that a serious illness could be found sooner.
Director Hitoshi Yamamura
"Currently, if a patient has a fever, the system is not as smooth as in the past. Therefore, the start of treatment may be delayed."
PM5: 00 Replace accepting patients to secure critical beds
Before 5 pm.
"I want you to accept a male patient in his 40s whose condition has changed suddenly."
A follow-up center in Osaka Prefecture, which is looking for a place to accept corona patients,
has
contacted me.
When he was hospitalized, he was judged to be moderately ill, but he said that his condition deteriorated rapidly within just a few hours.
However, accepting this patient would fill all 10 beds for Corona patients.
Although it is the only life-saving center in the area, it will not be able to accept patients with high urgency in the future.
Is there any solution?
Dr. Yamamura approached the hospital where the man was hospitalized.
Instead of accepting a man, he accepts a woman in her 50s who is a little calm but cannot find a transfer destination.
So to speak, it is “patient exchange”.
Director Hitoshi Yamamura
"If a corona patient waiting at home in this area suddenly deteriorates or if an emergency patient with a sudden illness comes out, he / she will receive it here. It will not be possible to respond at all. Medical institutions like ours are required to secure a system that can always provide medical examinations from emergency to corona. "
PM6: 30 Pregnant nurses are also at the forefront
Before 7 pm.
I was able to talk to Yuka Watanabe, a nurse who was about to go home after finishing work on that day.
Mr. Watanabe is currently pregnant, but he continues to stand on the scene with his own will.
The hospital recommended that he move to a general ward, but he said he persuaded his family to convince him.
Doctors are not the only ones who support difficult situations.
Nurse Yuka Watanabe
"I'm doing it every day at the last minute, so I know it's hard if even one person is missing. Now, I'm doing it with a sense of mission, a sense of duty, a sense of responsibility, without falling down. I try to support someone when they are about to fall. It's like that. "
7:00 PM Phone that keeps ringing even during treatment
Meanwhile, at that time, an ambulance carrying a male patient in his 40s arrived at the hospital.
The condition is unpredictable and there is no time to spare.
Dr. Yamamura confirms the condition of the lungs with a CT scan and hurries to jump into the ICU.
He then put on his own protective suit and put on a ventilator for the man.
During this time, the hospital hotline receives a series of calls from emergency services and medical institutions requesting acceptance.
"I can't go to the hotline because I'm responding! Someone goes out."
"
I can't
accept it because it's full."
A voice echoes every time the call rings.
After various treatments, the man's initial response was finished after 8 pm.
Shortly after breathing, I started to transfer a female patient to another hospital.
It was before 10 pm that the female patient was successfully transferred to another hospital and was able to secure another bed space.
PM10: 00 Patient examination continues even at midnight
Around 10 pm, just after one bed was vacant.
The person who was transported was an elderly woman who had a fever at home.
The woman had already been refused acceptance by more than 30 hospitals for suspected infection with the new corona.
The patient was tested negative.
The symptomatology subsided, so the next hospital decided to accept it.
It's past 1am.
Dr. Hisaya Michimi was checking each patient who was hospitalized in a seriously ill bed.
When I finally took a break, it was around 2:00 am.
Dr. Hisaya Michimi
"We manage the intensive care unit and outpatient department, and also consult with the local emergency services, but the current situation is really terrible. Emergency medical care is unstable from the beginning. , Big waves and small waves, everyone experiences various things, so it can be hard and painful. To be honest, today is physically and mentally hard. "
9:00 AM "Everyone is barely physically and mentally"
April 26, 9 am.
Doctors and nurses will come together to take over to the next shift.
The long day of the two doctors is over.
In the 24 hours we were in close contact with, there were 13 requests for emergency acceptance.
Of these, 5 were accepted.
I had to decline eight cases.
About 60% is a refusal calculation.
It seems that the adult before Corona refused about 1 in 10 cases, and now it is in an abnormal state, 6 times that.
What I could see through the interview was the current state of community medical care on the verge of collapse.
Director Hitoshi Yamamura
"Now, if we accept one patient with the new corona, we will not be able to accept a new emergency for about 3 hours during the initial treatment. The delay is actually happening now. The scene is also tight. Everyone is in a state of last minute, both mentally and physically. "
State of emergency continues to be re-extended
One month from close contact coverage.
The state of emergency issued to nine prefectures, including Osaka, has been extended again until June 20th.
It seems that the number of infected people in Osaka is gradually decreasing, but more than 100 severely ill beds used for normal surgery have been diverted exclusively to corona, and general hospitalization and surgery restrictions are still continuing. ..
"What will happen next if Indian stocks spread ..."
Yamamura is also concerned about the threat of the next mutant virus.
In the medical field, the uncertain battle continues.
Osaka-based broadcasting station reporter
Saaya Inoue
Joined in 2014 After working at the Wakayama station, he
was in charge of medical coverage focusing on the new coronavirus infection.
Osaka-based broadcasting station reporter
Mikio Tanabe
Joined in 2008 After working in Kitakyushu, Science and Culture Department, and Network News Department, he has been in charge of medicine, science, and culture in Osaka since 2019.