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CONCERNED: Hanna Aase was worried that her grandmother would get infected and is happy that the home health clinic from today is wearing bandages. Photo: Tomm Christiansen
From today on, the employees of the home care service and the care centers in Kristiansand will wear bandages: – It is a great relief, says Hanna Aase (37).
He has been terrified of his grandmother Torhild (95), who is visited by the home service four times a day, without using infection control equipment during the pandemic.
– Only the home health clinic comes close to her and can infect her with the virus. If they now have to wear a mask, it reduces their risk of getting COVID-19, says Aase.
The Kristiansand Municipality announced Tuesday that healthcare personnel will wear bandages when providing medical care to the elderly and patients at risk and cannot stay at least one meter away.
In practice, this means that care center employees, home nurses and employees in close contact with users must wear bandages for much of the working day.
BEFORE US: Director of Health and Coping in the municipality of Kristiansand Brede Skaalerud. Photo: Kommunefoto
Concern about infection in other cities
Kristiansand has a flat infection course. Last week 25 new infected people were registered. Three corona patients are in the hospital. The last covid death occurred on April 20.
– Southwest Norway has been lucky so far during the pandemic, admits the director of health and coping in Kristiansand Brede Skaalerud to VG.
But outbreaks in municipalities such as Oslo, Bærum and Drammen are causing concern in the south.
– We see that the situation can change very quickly. Based on a general assessment of the infection pressure throughout the country, we introduced preventive bandages in the health service, says Skaalerud.
He made the decision on the advice of the municipal doctor, who had discussed the measure with the council of medical professionals from the Kristiansand municipality.
– No desired situation
So far, the attitude of the Kristiansand municipality has been different.
Retired municipal doctor Dagfinn Haarr, who sometimes still works at the position, further emphasized the fact that face masks are uncomfortable and create a distance between the employee and the user.
The use of masks has some disadvantages. It is not comfortable to wear, it is not easy to communicate well with a mask. There is no desired situation, says Skaalerud.
He says exceptions can be made, with children and people with cognitive impairments being scared or annoyed by the microphone.
Mouthpieces should also be used for short visits, during close contact with users, such as eye drops, dressing, going to the bathroom, or transfers.
It is sufficient that one of the parties, user or employee, wears a bandage.
BE CAREFUL: Hanna Aase (37) took care of her grandmother Torhild (95) when the corona pandemic broke out this spring, because home nursing did not wear face masks. Photo: Tomm Christiansen
– Finally seen and heard
Hanna Aase (37) first appeared on VG in April and told her that she had taken over her grandmother’s care, because the home health clinic did not provide her with bandages.
After two months of nursing and nursing 12 hours a day, seven days a week, she couldn’t take it anymore. Home nursing took over again.
– It is completely beyond the fact that home nursing, which is in close contact with the elderly, is not obliged to wear a bandage, Hanna Aase emphasized when she appeared again on VG last Friday.
Four days later, the municipality turned around.
– It’s great that we who are family members are finally being seen and heard, says Aase.
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Fear for the grandmother’s life: – Beyond the fact that home nursing should not wear bandages
It would be leading var
Municipal director Skaalerud says there was no pressure from relatives that led to the decision to introduce preventive bandages.
– We understand very much that family members are concerned about their loved ones. The nozzles are introduced on the basis of a general evaluation. We want to be careful, says Brede Skaalerud.
Hanna Aase knows that one day she will lose her grandmother, who is very close to her.
– But no one wants a life born in 1925 to end during a pandemic. I hope he falls asleep peacefully, instead of some terrible virus giving him a nasty death.
FHI: blindfold for suspicion
The Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH) recommends the use of a bandage only when there is a suspicion that the recipient of municipal health and care services is infected with corona.
It is up to the municipal doctor and the municipal management to decide when reinforced measures should be considered in the municipal health and care service.
– Such measures should also be considered in unresolved situations, after at least one case of covid-19 has been confirmed in this service, writes the National Institute of Public Health in its recommendations.
