First Aid – – The tip of the iceberg

The spread of the flu, RS virus and covid-19 almost led to a perfect storm in Norwegian emergency rooms and hospitals before Christmas.

– We have to expect that there will be a lot of illnesses in Norwegian homes during the Christmas holidays, Public Health Institute (FHI) director Preben Aavitsland told Dagbladet shortly before the holiday.

And the pressure on the health system has not eased over the Christmas weekend.

– The tip of the iceberg

– On weekends, we normally have 120 patient visits per day. Over the Christmas weekend, it was up to 175. It’s probably the biggest increase we’ve ever had, Kristiansand Emergency Department Head Jofrid Jåtun Hansson in Dagbladet.

She continues:

– Employees have done everything possible to help everyone who needs help, but the enormous pressure goes beyond emergency preparedness and leads to long wait times for patients.

The hospital in Kristiansand is also experiencing great demand.

– We expect to see only the tip of the iceberg and for even more children arriving in general practitioners and emergency rooms, says Ole Bjørn Kittang, senior doctor in the department for children and youth at Sørlandet hospital in Kristiansand, at NRK extension.

Drammen’s emergency room is also under great pressure this Christmas. Due to the increase in covid infections, respiratory infections, RS virus and influenza, employees hardly have time to grab a bite to eat between the telephone exchange, call room, emergency room and observation lounge. Company director Susanne Kjær from Drammen’s emergency department tells Dagbladet on Tuesday.

Now he sees that the emergency room he runs is under pressure again with many illnesses.

– Now we see an insane number of infections, especially respiratory infections, he says. Plus, we have flu patients in droves, Kjær continues.

Operation complete

Kjær says emergency room staff are now working hard to help all those in need and that he has had to put measures in place.

– I staff as much staff as possible to be able to operate properly this Christmas, he says.

He points to several factors that he believes have contributed to the plight of emergency room employees now.

– Healthcare personnel are also not free to get sick, and when there are so few general practitioners and people get sick, the pressure on the emergency room becomes even greater.

– Also, we have a GP situation which means we get an abundance of patients from there. Even though we know and see that general practitioners are also overworked, we in the emergency room are obviously affected, says Kjær.

Warning: a million could die

Must prioritize

The emergency manager in Drammen says the situation is so urgent that many patients will have to wait longer periods for help.

– When we have as much pressure as now, you have to expect waiting times. This means that patients in a less urgent situation have to wait longer.

Kjær, on the other hand, clarifies that the emergency room will be available to all patients who want it, and that it will still be open 24 hours a day.

– We are the municipality’s safety net and do not turn away any patients. We assess the severity of all patients at all times, he confirms.

Kjær hopes that the situation will improve soon and that hospitalizations and infections will decrease towards the new year. According to FHI, however, this may appear to be the start of a longer period of rising infection in the population.

The burden will likely persist

Earlier this winter, FHI produced a report showing that various viruses and infections would hit the Norwegian population at the same time, i.e. towards the end of December.

– There is now a large and growing reach of respiratory infections in the population with co-occurrence of covid-19, influenza and RS virus infections, writes FHI in its weekly report for covid-19 and flu from last week.

– The number of new hospital admissions with respiratory infections is on the rise and is significantly higher than in the same period in pre-pandemic years. Perhaps the Christmas holidays will slow down the epidemics a bit, but we must be prepared for a new increase and continued tension in the health service in the new year, writes FHI, which adds that hospitals and municipalities must be prepared for more illnesses, more illnesses, absences , more hospitalizations and more outbreaks in nursing homes and hospitals.

FHI recommends people stay home if they get sick with respiratory symptoms.