The Abrantes Hospital of the Medio Tagus Local Health Unit (ULS) reached the limit of its intensive care hospital capacity on Tuesday, “with 80% of cases related to respiratory infections,” he told the official ULS Lusa source.
“Abrantes’ intensive care unit has reached capacity today, with 10 of its 12 beds occupied by influenza A patients,” the same source said, adding that “all of them are on ventilators” due to “severe respiratory failure.”
The average age of patients in intensive care units is 55 years, with patients admitted between 42 and 72 years old, Lusa ULS Médio Tejo reported.
There is also “a lot of pressure” on emergency services, according to ULS Médio Tejo, although most patients are assigned a green bracelet, meaning they are not emergency patients.
“The waiting time for these non-urgent patients will increase significantly because they are not actually inpatient care cases, but rather very urgent cases that require urgent care,” according to ULS Médio Tejo.
Despite the pressure on care activities, “waiting times are currently under control,” a department source said.
At the end of the morning, the average wait time in Abrantes for very urgent patients (orange) was 33 minutes and one hour and 25 minutes for urgent patients (yellow).
For non-urgent patients (green and blue), the waiting time is not specified, but it can vary from seven to 12 hours, ULS Médio Tejo reports.
Incoming patients are accepted immediately.
The Medio Tagus Hospital Center has five emergency services: two main emergency services in Tomar and Torres Novas (where waiting times were slightly shorter than in Abrantes), pediatric emergency care in Torres Novas and a maternity and medical-surgical unit in Abrantes .
Manchester triage, which assesses a user’s clinical risk and assigns a priority level, has five levels: urgent (red wristband), very urgent (orange), urgent (yellow), less urgent (green) and non-urgent. ( blue).
In the case of a yellow bracelet, the first service should not take more than 60 minutes, and in the case of a green bracelet, it is recommended not to exceed 120 minutes (two hours).
With “an average of 600 daily visits” in the last week of 2023 in the emergency departments of the three hospital departments, of which 150 in the pediatric departments, ULS Médio Tejo clinical director Carlos Lusada told Lusa that the department “is at the level of emergency situations in the central hospitals when providing medical care,” while “80% of emergency room visits are related to respiratory illnesses.”
Given the panorama and the demand for care, ULS Médio Tejo decided to “strengthen teams and hospitalization beds” as part of the influenza emergency plan “to respond to the peak of demand and prepare for the coming weeks.”
The hospital center expects the current situation to last “until the end of January, with a peak in the second half of January” due to “large social gatherings” during the Christmas and New Year holidays.
The clinical director of the Centro Hospitalar Médio Tejo appealed to the population to follow the recommendations of the General Directorate of Health regarding low temperatures and to use Linha Saúde 24 (808242424) before seeking emergency care.
“Do not go to the emergency room with mild symptoms,” asked Carlos Lousada, stressing that “anyone who must go to the emergency room should always wear a mask.”
From Monday, the Medio Tejo Hospital Center (CHMT) and the Medio Tejo Group of Medical Centers (ACES) joined the ULS Médio Tejo, providing health services in the municipalities of Abrantes, Alcanena, Constantia, Entroncamento, Ferreira do Zezere, Masão. , Sardoal, Tomar, Torres Novas, Vila Nova da Barquinha (all in the Santarem area) and Vila de Rei (Castelo Branco area).
With a population living in its geographical catchment area of approximately 170 thousand people (169,274 people), ULS employs 2,780 specialists and has three hospital departments (located in Abrantes, Tomar and Torres Novas), and primary health care services are currently provided ACES Médio Tejo and Vila de Rey Medical Center
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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