The number of “difficult-to-transport cases” in which the recipients of emergency patients cannot be determined immediately due to the spread of the new corona infection has exceeded 6000 cases, a record high for the sixth straight week, and is still on the rise.
Under these circumstances, in university hospitals, which are considered to be the "last bastion" of emergency medical care, there are many cases in which patients with urgent general illnesses and injuries have to be refused acceptance or cannot be treated immediately. I am.
Doctors in the field complain that "community emergency medical care is nearing its limits."
Emergency medical care In some cases it takes several hours to accept a patient
The Advanced Critical Care Center of Osaka University Children's Surrogate Hospital in Suita City, Osaka, provides emergency medical care in the area that accepts other highly urgent patients such as stroke and traffic accident injuries while dealing with critically ill patients of the new Corona. It is responsible for the "last fort".
As of February 22, 13 of the 14 beds in the new Corona for critically ill patients have been filled, and the condition remains tight.
According to Director Jun Oda, the number of requests for acceptance of patients with high urgency other than the new corona has been increasing at the center since February, and in some cases it may take several hours to arrive.
The scene of urgency The man was temporarily in cardiopulmonary arrest because he could not find a place to accept him.
A man in his 50s in Osaka, who was taken to the center on February 17, when NHK was interviewed, was not infected with the new corona, but said that he needed urgent treatment due to acute myocardial infarction. A member of the corresponding ambulance made inquiries to nearby emergency hospitals, etc. 10 times, mainly in Osaka city, but could not find a place to accept them and was finally transported to the center.
The man arrived at the center about two and a half hours after requesting an ambulance, and he became ill and had temporary cardiopulmonary arrest and was treated with a ventilator and a heart-lung machine (ECMO). ..
Requests from other prefectures have increased nearly 7 times compared to early January.
According to the center, requests for acceptance of highly urgent patients are being made one after another from remote areas including other prefectures such as Kyoto and Hyogo, and the number of cases that have to be refused is increasing, and currently it is about 15 cases a day in early January. It means that it has increased nearly 7 times compared to.
In the background, the spread of the new corona infection has made it impossible for other emergency hospitals in the region to respond, the number of requests for patient acceptance is increasing, and emergency surgery and transportation overlap due to the limited number of medical staff. It may be difficult to deal with it.
Director Oda said, "We are making the utmost efforts and ingenuity that we can do on-site, but the reality is that we have not been able to respond to all requests for acceptance. We have to prioritize treatment and decide whether or not to accept it. Sometimes we don't have it, so we take great care to minimize the disadvantages to our patients, but we feel very distressed. "
As a countermeasure, the center is in direct contact with the nearby hospital and asks each other for emergency surgery and acceptance of patients at the timing when there is a slight margin in the bed and staff, but Director Oda said, "21. Even if I contacted the hospital more than 40 times a day, there were patients who could not find a place to accept them and were taken to this center, and I feel that the emergency medical care in the area is nearing its limit. Even if it reaches its peak, it will continue to increase for a while, so I am very worried about how far we will be able to deal with patients with the new Corona and other emergency patients. Emergency medical care has entered such a difficult situation for the general public. I want you to know that it is being done. "
Increased dispatch of doctor cars
At a university hospital in Tokyo, which is said to be the "last fort" in emergency medical care due to the spread of the new coronavirus, the beds for emergency patients are becoming tight and it is difficult to accept hospitalization. Increasingly, there are increasing cases of rushing to respond to urgent patients with a car.
Nippon Medical School Hospital, a designated tertiary emergency hospital in Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, currently has 24 beds in total for corona patients and patients with urgent injuries and illnesses other than corona. Since January, when the Omicron strain expanded rapidly, many medical institutions have been narrowing down the acceptance of general emergency patients in order to focus on corona response, and the condition is almost full.
Since last week, the number of hospitalizations for critically ill patients with corona, which takes a long time to treat, has increased, and the degree of sickness in the bed has increased. On the 22nd, by around 3:00 pm, only two requests were accepted for more than a dozen requests.
Dispatching about once every two days may be four times a day
At the hospital, the acceptance of patients is becoming stricter, and at the request of the fire department, doctors are also promoting a "doctor car" that transports patients while treating them in the car. It was about once every two days, but from last week it can be four times a day.
The doctor car is equipped with a respirator and an X-ray examination device, and this week I rushed to the doctor car in the case of a child having convulsions, and after the doctor treated it on site, I was able to transport it to another hospital. It means that there was also a case.
"It is difficult to respond to the request for emergency transport, but we must avoid the patient's condition getting worse because the destination is not decided. The doctor manages to intervene in the treatment early, We need to make sure that patients don't die by the time they come to the hospital. "
"Cases where transportation is difficult" Over 6000
The Fire and Disaster Management Agency of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications reports on 52 fire departments nationwide, including the fire department where the prefectural office is located, as "cases where transportation is difficult", such as cases where there were four or more inquiries to the hospital before the destination of the patient was decided. It is summarized every week based on it.
In the week leading up to February 20, there were 6064 cases, an increase from the record high of 5740 cases in the previous week.
By region,
there are 2849 cases in Tokyo,
557 cases in Osaka City
, 432 cases in Yokohama City
, 164 cases in Sapporo City
, 129 cases in Kitakyushu City, and
101 cases in Sendai City
.
Compared to the same period in 2 years before the spread of the new coronavirus,
▽ Kitakyushu city 63.5 times
▽ Tokyo 7.9 times
▽ Yokohama city 4.68 times
▽ Osaka city 2.9 times
▽ Sendai city 2.61 times
▽ Sapporo city Has increased significantly in various places,
such as 1.83 times
.
The number of suspected cases of coronavirus infection is 2032, which is the highest level as in the previous week, accounting for 34% of the total.
The number of unsuspected cases of coronavirus infection was 4032, an increase of about 350 from the previous week, and still accounts for about two-thirds of the total.
According to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, "The number of newly infected people in the new corona is gradually decreasing, but the beds are not always vacant immediately. I want to keep an eye on the future situation with a sense of urgency. "