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On Friday, there were 171 patients with confirmed COVID-19 infection in hospitals in the Västra Götaland region, of which 26 were in an intensive care unit.
There is still a long way to go until the highest figures of last spring. But the development remains concerning, according to Olaf Gräbel, acting chief of operations for anesthesia, surgery and intensive care at Östra Hospital in Gothenburg.
Concern for staff
– The staff is fantastic. There is an incredible willingness to help patients and I am sure we can do it. But I’m very concerned about how the staff are doing, he says.
– When we haven’t even recovered from the first time, how are we going to recover the second time?
From a medical point of view, there are many important lessons from the work of covid during the spring and summer. Among other things, this has reduced intensive care times.
A lesson from the spring is also that staff should be able to switch between the more burdensome covid care and regular intensive care.
“Gradual escalation”
But that doesn’t change the fact that more staff are needed, especially for intensive care, says Olaf Gräbel.
– We are planning a gradual escalation. But one problem, for the entire region, is that we don’t have much more VAT staff, he says.
– Therefore, we try to reactivate those who have changed their profession, who may have become communicators, administrators or something else. We try to get them back and train them in our simulator center.
