Medellín received 45 biomedical teams from the Red Cross and advances in the opening of more ICUs

The hospital emergency has been working slowly in Medellín thanks to different actions, such as the donation, on the night of April 6, of 29 electric beds, 12 laryngoscopes and 4 laser thermometers by the International Red Cross and the United States Agency for International Development.

The contribution, which seeks to strengthen the capacities of the Antioquia capital to face the covid pandemic19, came at the time that at least 11 hospital institutions in the city –the Pablo Tobón Uribe Hospital, the University IPS of the University of Antioquia, the Cardio Vid Clinic, Las Américas, Las Vegas, CES, the San Vicente Fundación Hospital and the Envigado, Itagüí, Sabaneta and La Estrella hospitals– declared an emergency due to the occupation of all their ICU beds.

The first to pronounce on the issue was the Undersecretary of Health Services Management, Ruth Mena, who thanked the Red Cross for the supplies and equipment in an interview for Telemedellín delivered to Hospital La María, Hospital General de Medellín and ESE Metrosalud ”.

The teams are part of the project ” Strengthening the Response Capacity of the Hospital Network in Colombia‘, with which both organizations intend to invest 6.5 million dollars to improve the conditions of 198 public hospitals throughout the country, with the delivery of 884 hospital beds, 300 stop cars, 100 electrocardiographs, 250 defibrillators, among other biomedical elements.

Meanwhile, Medellín continues to sharpen efforts to get out of the difficult health situation in which it finds itself and which, according to Mena, is mainly due to the shortage of professional personnel in the city. “Yesterday 39 professionals arrived, including intensivists, general practitioners, specialist doctors, nursing chiefs, respiratory therapists and nursing assistants ”, with which 18 new ICUs can be opened.

According to the latest report from the mayor of that city, Daniel Quintero Calle, Medellín reached this Wednesday, April 7, a total of 954 ICUs enabled, thanks to the opening of 14 additional units at the Fundadores Clinic. The goal is to close the day with a total of 980.

At the same time, other institutions such as the Pablo Tobón Uribe Hospital, ordered to pass the employees who work in areas of surgery, diagnostic aids and external consultation to provide their services in the emergency and intensive care areas. So with this measure the hospital hopes to expand intensive care beds to full capacity for adults, as well as expanding its emergency and hospitalization areas.

To achieve this, the directives also made the decision to focus the medical personnel to attend the emergency with the closure of seven operating rooms, and, furthermore, restrict outpatient services, which had been provided in accordance with what was permitted in the resolution issued by the Antioquia Government, on April 3.

That while, last Tuesday, the city official, William Vivas, assured that the city has an Intensive Care Unit occupation of 98.25%, with 111 critically ill patients waiting for a bed, cut off at one in the afternoon.

On the other hand, the representative of the Public Ministry warned that, since these people were located in the 1.75% availability that Medellín has, the ICU occupancy in the city exceeded one hundred percent at the end of the day.

What’s more, Esteban Restrepo, Secretary of Government of Antioquia, assured that they are facing the third peak with figures that they had not registered so far in the pandemic. “This is why I want to make a call to conscience and citizen co-responsibility, with the adoption of measures that help mitigate the speed of infections by COVID-19,” said Restrepo through his Twitter account.

Restrepo added that citizens must comply and help not to increase the level of contagion or the occupancy of ICU beds, taking into account the parameters: “It is recommended to companies and citizens in general: Allow staggered work hours and prioritize teleworking. Electronic commerce, addresses. Self-isolation if they were outside the city ”.

With 3,045 new cases registered today, the number of people infected with covid-19 in Antioquia reached 393,199. Until the last report, there are 15,524 active cases in the department and the number of people recovered is 366,363. The department has an ICU bed occupancy percentage of 94.41%. Medellín, for its part, has 4,676 active cases and 221,144 accumulated, of which 212,507 (96%) have recovered.