While on Monday, when the first trucks with equipment arrived at the Prague Exhibition Center, one needed a lot of imagination to see the future hospital, on Thursday morning the situation is significantly different.
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Army tents and hundreds of beds are already standing in the spacious gray halls. The area is cold and gloomy, the beds lined up in rows cause a feeling of concern – at the thought that perhaps all of them should be filled.
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There will be a total of 500 beds in the two patient halls. “Ten intensive care units and 490 ordinary beds,” specifies Colonel Ladislav Šlechta, who accompanies us through the complex.
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The halls are divided into segments of fifty beds, which fall under one examination room. In the large hall there will be 300 beds, in the smaller 200 including the mentioned intensive care units, which are placed in containers. The preparation of the large hall was almost completed on Thursday morning. “By the end of the week, the shell we are currently building will be equipped. For example, we will connect computers, “said the Nobility.
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X-rays, laboratories, a computed tomography or a decontamination line from the fire brigade are also available to doctors who come here. All this is located in the connecting room between the two bed halls.
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Although these are exhibition grounds, the temperature inside should not be a problem. “It simply came to our notice then. The space can be tempered to a pleasant 22 degrees, “assured the Nobility.
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At the hospital, paramedics will also be able to take samples for covid-19, but the analysis will be provided by Na Bulovce Hospital.
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It is the whole project that sponsors the field hospital, it has become part of it as a aftercare department. Thus, patients with covid-19 who have already received treatment in a regular hospital but have improved will primarily recover. “From there, they will travel to home treatment,” says the Nobility, while soldiers set up other equipment around us or walk in groups with a sharp step between the halls. The premises of the makeshift hospital give a sense of urgency and seriousness. Everything looks carefully planned and well organized.
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The staff of the field hospital will also be mostly military, but it is possible that it will be supplemented by employees of the Na Bulovce Hospital if necessary. It is probably also here that doctors from abroad, which the Czechia has promised within the UN, should work here. For example, 28 army doctors from the USA should arrive.
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The construction of the hospital, which employs about a hundred soldiers, is to be completed by 4 pm on Sunday. According to the Nobility, the deadline will be met – most of the equipment is already in place and deliveries are coming according to plan.
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Hospitals that stood in Iraq and Afghanistan
According to Colonel Šlechta, the basic difference between a regular field hospital and a Letňany hospital is capacity. Conventional surgical profile field hospitals have operating rooms and intensive care units. But they have a limited number of beds. However, the hospital’s capabilities remain the same. “It was enough for the missions on which the hospitals were used. The fundamental difference is twenty-five beds versus five hundred, “specified the Nobility.
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Two field hospitals, which soldiers have been building in Prague since Monday, were deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2002-2003 and 2006-2007. They are used in the Czech Republic for the very first time.
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One of the halls of the Letňany PVA EXPO complex is intended for employees of the field hospital. For example, soldiers are setting up tents in which employees can live, there will be a total of 120 beds. At the same time, part of the hall is set aside for firefighters, who already provide decontamination. It is possible to enter one of the halls of cars that will supply the hospital. However, it will not be activated all at once, but as needed in parts.
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Catering for patients will be provided by the Na Bulovce Hospital canteen. “The hospital will provide cleaning and catering services,” said Jan Kvaček, director of Na Bulovce Hospital. Food will be distributed by non-medical staff. It will also help patients, for example, go to the toilet. All staff will be protected as standard in hospitals, ie with a suit, shield and respirator.
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According to the director of Na Bulovce Hospital, all costs are borne by his hospital. However, in agreement with the government and the General Health Insurance Company, it will receive an extended contract to cover the costs.
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The hospital follows the scenarios of the Ministry of Health. He therefore expects the largest increase in patients in early November. “On Sunday evening, after the completion of the construction, only the basic staff will be on site,” concluded Kvaček.
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