Joke for the day: I used to cough to cover a fart, now I fart to cover a cough!
The coronavirus situation is changing every day.
The Australian government has closed the borders and started some pretty extreme economic stimulus measures. We are still going to the shops (and shelves still looking a little bit empty!) and sending our kids to school and day care, but many of our friends and family are working from home if not in “hands on” roles.
At Sutherland ED, coronavirus has not had a huge impact on our daily clinical work, as yet. 150-300 patients a day have been seen at the coronavirus clinic (being operated out of “old ED”). Less than 1% tested have been positive so far. Very few have had to be referred to the ED for any treatment – yesterday about half a dozen patients. A handful of patients with confirmed coronavirus have been admitted to the hospital, however mostly because of concerns about their ability to cope with self-isolation, rather than due to severe illness. No one has been put on NIV or admitted to ICU yet.
Today, any confirmed or suspected cases needing to be treated in our ED were cared for in the ED Short Stay Unit area. In hours, the treating doctors are those allocated to EDSSU on the roster. Patients with moderate to severe illness (requiring close monitoring or respiratory support) can be cared for in single rooms in Acute. This arrangement is being constantly reviewed, and may well differ from day to day and shift to shift.
Various ED staff are part of a pandemic working party to anticipate and plan for the changes that are going to need to be made in the coming days and weeks. Kelly (CNS) and Ollie (FACEM) are the leads. Our fearless leaders Leanne and Andrew are heavily involved.
Lucky us Emergency Physicians thrive on working in a dynamic environment!
Elbow bumps to you all! Stay healthy 🙂
Allison