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AACHEN, Germany: After spending the first night breathing alone, Martina Hamacher, 60, said, “I’ve been lucky.”
Hamacher, one of Germany’s first coronavirus patients, is still entangled in some of the tubes and cables that helped her stay alive for 20 days in intensive care.
“I’ve come this far,” he said with a slight smile at the Aachen university hospital.
Things could have been worse for Hamacher if it had not been dealt with in Germany, where the response to the crisis has been admired internationally.
COVID-19 patient Martina Hamacher says she was lucky AFP / Ina FASSBENDER
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Despite a large number of infections, the number of deaths has been much lower than in France, Italy, or the United States.
Experts have accredited Berlin for widespread testing and extensive capacity for patients affected by respiratory disease.
Such large-scale efforts appear to have been worthwhile, as patients receive world-class care from medical personnel who have kept abreast of the crisis.
The Aachen hospital has even been able to take patients from Belgium and the Netherlands.
“I am very grateful for what the doctors and nurses did, without them I don’t think I would still be here,” said Hamacher.
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DOING OUR DUTY
Sleeping patients who cannot survive without assistance can be seen through yellow sliding doors that open into two-bed intensive care units (ICUs) in the hospital.
Amid constant beeps in different tones and volumes of life support machines, doctors and nurses work on their epidemic armor of masks, gloves, caps, and protective suits.
“This is part of our duty that we are doing,” said a nurse named Kathi.
Nurse Kathi: ‘This is our duty’ AFP / Ina FASSBENDER
Aachen currently has 51 coronavirus patients, 35 of them in intensive care.
“It is important to me that this is not just related to death and technology,” said UCI director Gernot Marx.
“We bring most people to life, not because of all the machines we have, but because of the people who know what they are doing, who commit so hard.”
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INTENSE PREPARATIONS
The Aachen hospital experience with the coronavirus started slowly, Marx said.
“We understood that we could and should use the time to prepare, because the images of Bergamo (in northern Italy) were horrible. We were determined not to allow that to become reality here.”
Within days, the number of beds in the ICU increased from 96 to 136, an increase similar to that of other German medical facilities.
Another 70 locations could be quickly established if needed, but the country already had 11,000 free intensive care beds out of a national total of 25,000.
“We were always prepared to receive people,” said Marx.
UCI director Gernot Marx: “We give life to most people, not by all the machines we have, but by the people who know what they are doing” AFP / Ina FASSBENDER
More than 3,800 people have died in Germany of more than 133,000 confirmed infections, a rate well below that of other large countries in the European Union such as France or Spain.
And since April 12, more people have been declared disease-free every day new infections have been reported, Health Minister Jens Spahn said Friday.
READ: Every person affected by coronavirus infects less than another in Germany
LIFE IS GOOD
Hamacher recalled that “suddenly, the virus was in our corner of the world.”
One day, “I felt a little weak, like I was getting the flu and had a little fever.”
When the disease intensified, “I have never experienced anything like this,” he added. “This feeling of not being able to breathe is impossible to describe, it will always be in my head.”
But leaving the ICU is just the first step on a long road back to total health.
The time spent on a ventilator “damages our lungs, even if we have saved a life, we don’t have normal breathing afterward,” said Anne Bruecken, head of a “weaning” unit for patients leaving the machines.
After potentially weeks of respiratory support, people “don’t stop ventilation easily,” Bruecken explained, but they need an extra week or two to achieve independent breathing.
“We have muscles that we normally use to breathe, and the longer we ventilate, the weaker they become.”
Some patients even have to “learn to swallow again,” Bruecken noted.
Then they often spend more time in rehab centers.
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Meanwhile, Hamacher’s new room lights up with drawings of his grandchildren.
Personnel must still wear protective equipment, and visits are strictly prohibited.
“It would be better if someone came from time to time, it’s been a long time, especially for the grandchildren,” said Hamacher.
Regardless, “I feel like a queen today, I can tell that things are getting better,” she said with a smile.
“Life is good, whatever comes next, I will have to enjoy it!”
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