Giuseppe Fiorentino, director of pneumology at the Cotugno hospital in Naples, admitted in an interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere del Mezzogiorno, that patient screening is being done outside the hospital unit – inside patients’ cars – due to hospital saturation.
Many of the patients even receive oxygen, administered by health professionals, inside their cars.
The images show several cars and ambulances lined up in front of the hospital, showing the pressure that the unit is being subjected to. According to the newspaper Corriere del Mezzogiorno, the scenario is almost one of war with doctors and nurses struggling to reach all patients in exhaustive shifts.
Giuseppe Fiorentino has been at the forefront of the fight against Covid-19 since March. He assumes that “nothing has changed” when it comes to hospital assistance in the face of the first wave in March and guarantees that panic is the main factor that takes dozens of people to the hospital when it is already saturated.
“The media effect is terrible. And, paradoxically, those who watch this situation on television panic even more and run to the hospital. At least 20 or even 30 people who arrive at the emergency room daily are sent home after being accompanied. This means that they do not need hospitalization “, explains the pulmonologist.
Faced with the issue of patients receiving oxygen in the car, Giuseppe says that this means that doctors cannot see all patients at the same time. The doctor also guarantees that “what appear to be endless lines are, in fact, normal lines”.
“The space in front of the emergency room at the Cotugno hospital is narrow, the cars you see are not many. But, in any case, the screening is done for everyone outside [do hospital] and then the evaluations are made “, he explains.
Fiorentino also explains that oxygen has been administered in patients’ cars instead of being admitted to the hospital because they are moderate cases, without the need to occupy a bed.
“Often the patient who goes to the hospital has moderate symptoms. At home he feels abandoned and above all alone, and panics. He feels short of breath, which is more a mental condition than a physical one. territorial assistance would work better, we would not have this affluence. And I repeat, the affluence generates fear that turns into panic “, concludes the pulmonologist.
Giuseppe also warns of the flu that should make the situation worse: “This is the real problem of the next few weeks, the symptoms are very similar, except for the lack of smell and taste that leads us to Covid’s pathology. Initial approach therapy it is, however, the same “.
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