The decision was repeated three times in the last two weekends in Aveiro: in one case to prevent the intensive care unit from becoming completely full; in two others because the maximum capacity to treat the most serious patients had already been reached and it was not possible to receive new patients in need of ventilation.
Ten days ago, a patient with Covid-19 and in serious condition was transferred from the Centro Hospitalar do Baixo Vouga, in Aveiro, where he was, to the Centro Hospitalar Médio Tejo, in Santarém, “as a matter of management”. “We had two ventilators available, but as we are a support hospital for the municipality of Ovar and we were close to reaching maximum capacity, we decided to transfer this patient, who was in a clinically safe situation to do so,” explains the hospital’s official source. .
Last weekend, two more patients were transferred to the Coimbra Hospital and University Center, this time because Aveiro “had exhausted its ventilation capacity”.
The situation was, however, stabilized. This Tuesday, two of the eleven beds available in intensive care in Aveiro had already been released, however, being the only places available for more patients. At this time, the hospital has an emergency room, also for patients infected with the new coronavirus, with a capacity for three people and also equipped with two fans, but they are non-invasive.
To try to solve the problem, the hospital was reinforced with ventilators by the Ministry of Health, but local and central authorities contradict each other. Official source of the hospital center tells the Observer that three new fans were delivered this Tuesday, by order of the Government, “which also reinforced assistance with four more multifunction monitors”. The same source guarantees that “it was the first reinforcement of fans” during the pandemic, adding that the hospital itself also placed an order for ten fans from its suppliers, but that “have not yet arrived”.
The Directorate-General for Health, however, says that this reinforcement was not the first. João Gouveia, a member of the Coordination Group for Intensive Care Response at DGS, assures the Observer that the Aveiro Hospital “was the first to be reinforced with new fans”, revealing that the three pieces of equipment delivered this Tuesday were already the second reinforcement by the Government. “At the end of last week, others were delivered,” he guarantees, but without giving any figures.
The official warns, however, that Aveiro “is a chronic problem” with regard to intensive care and, although there is “an effort to gain more space”, to increase capacity, transfers of patients to other hospitals will continue to happen, as “they are part of the normal functioning of the network”. The DGS coordinator explains that the hospitals in the center, Guarda and Coimbra, and even INEM, are prepared to receive patients from Aveiro, if necessary.
“In a large overload like this, we only have one chance: working in a network. We have to make use of local, regional and national resources. We are currently maximizing resources at the local level and we are implementing plans accordingly. ”
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