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The high number of hospitalized corona patients in Aargau is pushing hospitals to the limit. “Almost all hospitals have high to very high utilization of their intensive care beds and monitoring stations,” says Markus Schwendinger, director of the emergency and intensive care unit at Cantonal Hospital Baden (KSB). Because many Covid patients require intensive medical care, there are fewer intensive care beds (IPS beds) available for non-Covid patients. As a result, hospitals are repeatedly forced to transfer IPS patients to other institutions due to lack of free capacity.
Transfers to other cantons are difficult
Aargau hospitals help each other: “The intracantonal exchange between hospitals works very well in Aargau,” says Schwendinger. In addition, the KSB is in close contact with hospitals in neighboring cantons in order to be able to transfer IPS patients there. “This is associated with a high level of organizational effort. For example, he already spent five hours on the phone before finding a solution, ”says KSB’s Schwendinger.
If there are no free IPS beds in neighboring cantons either, Rega is the last option as a national coordination point. “That does not mean that the resulting relocations will be carried out with a rescue helicopter,” says Corina Zellweger, Rega media spokeswoman. “At the request of the hospitals, the Rega Operations Center looks for free intensive care beds for patients, but the hospitals decide the type of transport.”
Transferring intensive care patients is difficult, but still feasible, says Markus Schwendinger. “We hope that the measures taken by the canton and the federal government will come into force quickly, so that the situation in the hospitals will ease soon.”
Hirslanden warns of overloading hospitals
The intensive care unit at Hirslanden Klinik Aarau has also been almost fully occupied for weeks with Covid and non-Covid patients, such as heart patients. “Since the other central hospitals are also very busy, any transfer of additional intensive care patients is difficult,” says Philipp Lenz, Head of Communication at the Hirslanden Clinic in Aarau. “So far, however, solutions have been found within or outside the cantons. We are in close contact with the other hospitals and the canton on a daily basis. “
However, he warns: “Until January we will not realize if the measures are enough and if the population abides by the rules during the holidays.” It is urgent to avoid that not all patients can be treated and difficult ethical decisions have to be made.
The Aarau Cantonal Hospital (KSA) coordinates the intensive and acute beds for Covid-19 patients in the West Aargau region, that is, with the Zofingen, Menziken, Rheinfelden and Hirslanden Clinic hospitals. This week, for the first time, more Covid-19 patients required intensive care than could be available in the Aargau West region by creating additional IPS beds. In other words: a person had to be relocated outside the canton.
There is a digital recording of hospital beds all over Switzerland. “But this does not replace direct contact with other hospitals, as the situation is constantly changing,” says Isabelle Wenzinger, KSA media spokesperson. “Any transfer requires clarification and an exchange of information.” The KSA internal coordination office is in daily contact with the Aargau West hospitals, the Aargau East region and, if necessary, the national coordination office.
If the numbers continue to increase, continue like this: “If there were also no free IPS beds available in other cantons, a triage would have to be done. This can only be avoided if the number of new infections and, consequently, the number of hospitalizations falls again. ”This can only be achieved if everyone complies with the measures ordered by the authorities, says Wenzinger.
