COVID-19 Is It Safe To Go To The Hospital During A Pandemic?

Monday, May 4, 2020 (American Heart Association News) -It’s healthy as concerns about catching the coronavirus encourage people to move physically away. But when those fears drive people ailing from hospitals, it can be dangerous.

To those people, doctors say: Your emergency room is safe. And if you need to go, you should go.

Hospitals are updating safety procedures in a variety of ways, said interventional cardiologist Dr. Patricia Best. She is an Associate Professor of Internal Medicine and Cardiovascular Disease at the Mayo Clinic Medical and Science University in Rochester, Minnesota.

“This pandemic can last months, if not more than a year, so we need to make sure people have everything they need in a timely manner,” she said. And it means that someone will “call an ambulance if they have something on another day, they should call an ambulance”.

Not everyone is. April Study Journal of American Heart Association Hospitalization for a serious type of heart attack, known as STEMI, was said to have declined 38% after March 1, after a pandemic hit. In news reports, people specifically cite the concern of coronavirus as a reason to avoid hospitals.

Dr. Philip L. Cour, Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Augusta University Medical Systems in Georgia, said his hospital admissions were down 25% to 40%.

“Some of them seem to have been driven out of fear,” he said. “Sure, some of that is driven out of selective case cancellations, delays in procedures, etc., but out of those who aren’t seeking health care because of their potential potential. There are certain components that are present. The risk of being infected with COVID-19. “

He said it was a bad idea. “The risk of ignoring heart attacks and strokes is far greater than the risk of health care posed by COVID-19.”

Dr. Alice Jacobs, a professor of medicine at the Boston University School of Medicine, said that was the case in cities where the virus was badly hit. She is the Vice Chairman of Clinical Affairs at the Boston Medical Center’s School of Medicine and is the former volunteer chairman of the American Heart Association.

She said fast care is the key to survival. “The relationship between opening an occluded artery that causes a heart attack and the chance of dying is measured in minutes.” And now hospital workers have extra time to allow for coronavirus safety measures. In need.

However, Jacobs, the lead author of the new guidance on STEMI care during a pandemic released by the AHA on Saturday, said the entire emergency care process, starting with an ambulance that was decontaminated and replenished with COVID-19 in mind. Said he was adapting.

At Coule’s facility, patients with symptoms of COVID-19 are diverted to another area at the entrance to the emergency room, so they will not be mixed with problem patients other than COVID-19.

At Mayo Clinic, Best’s catheter lab (part of the hospital that evaluates and treats patients with heart disease) has also changed. Some may be obvious. Patients are filled by workers in full protective clothing and access is limited to members of the family.

Other changes are technical. Temporary STEMI guidance, co-authored by Best, suggests stronger cleaning procedures and reducing the number of workers exposed to potentially infected patients. Other experts have issued temporary guidance from the AHA to help protect stroke patients.

Outside of hospitals, new safety measures at your doctor or emergency clinic may be different, she said. But in a true emergency, people need to call 911 and be taken to the emergency room no matter what.

Due to concerns about those who fail to comply with such advice, leaders from eight medical institutions, including the American College of Cardiology, Heart Rhythm Society, and the AHA, issued a statement in April. life. “

Coule agreed.

“I’m a huge fan and a supporter of emergency and telemedicine, and the use of private doctors as needed,” he said. “But if you have symptoms of heart attack or stroke, they are not a viable solution. These are patients who need to see a qualified and competent emergency department. That is always the case. This is the case for COVID-19. “

Coule follows his own advice.

“I actually had chest pain during this crisis,” he said. He was working at the time and, like many, he pondered for a while whether he really needed to go.

Not so long. He reported to the emergency department, had a heart assessment, and “everything was great.” He returned home at midnight and returned to work the next morning.

The fear of getting the COVID-19 was never a problem. But he is worried about the wave of people who have delayed the care of problems of all kinds. It’s important that they don’t, he said.

“I would tell parents who are survivors of both heart diseases that if they needed treatment, it would be completely safe to be hospitalized and have that treatment done right now,” he said. Said. “I’m not worried about their safety or the possibility of catching COVID-19 in the hospital.”