Five Days

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applause and cheering is heard every night in the streets crowded by 12 Octubre hospital in Madrid, dates back to the 6,000 employees who work there as heroes.

"We are not heroes, we are the workers' health," emphasized Hernando Trujillo, a Doctor , the combat coronavirus emergency in the working class South of the capital.

The Hospital has epidemic a capacity for 1,300 beds and, at The Height of the Covid-19-almost 1,000 of these have been used in the treatment of coronavirus patients.

"It was almost no transition. There is a hustle and bustle was really quiet, And Then all of a sudden. The collapse came in one day," says Laura Andújar, a 37-year-old emergency nurse.

the epicenter of the Spanish pandemic

Spain has seen More Than 20,000 deaths and the region of Madrid is located in The Heart of it: a Capital City infested by this virus.

This town has seen over 7,000 deaths More Than in other European capitals.

The contagion with a speed notice through the densely populated city and its cluster of suburbs.

The true number of fatalities to be much higher than the regional government in Madrid, just 800 of 4,260 nursing home residents suspected of dying from Covid-19 tested were revealed.

such As health collapse, everything came all at once

The first local infection is believed to have been detected on 27 February. Of 15 March, there were 3,544 confirmed cases.

at the summit On 31 March, 3,419 new cases were reported here in a single day.

"What followed was Two Weeks of madness," says Laura Andújar.

Laura AndújarSometimes we saw five times the normal number of patients had and to keep it, change the areas That we take for the triage, Taking Over one building After another Laura Andújar
nurse in the 12 de Octubre hospital 'I have Ebola avoided, but got immediately'

Another emergency department nurse, Eugenia Cuesta is no stranger to epidemics. She was cross with cholera in Haiti and Ebola in Sierra Leone as a Red-and-volunteers.

"We are broken together. On a "normal" bad winter flu the day you get maybe 100 people waiting. We had 220 of Covid-19, and people ended up sleeping in the hallways," she recalls.

After a long shift in the tracks, which is by Eugenia Cuesta protective equipment are clear

And in this case, They were not ready for the onslaught. "Five Days , I got a cough and tested positive. "

"The protective clothing was late and still inadequate. I avoided cholera and Ebola infection, and I got this immediately," she says. When she came back at The End of March, she found "the same degree of disorganisation".

their colleagues had become accustomed to exhausted mess, and were to consider the work in other ways, she believes.

the Doctors in The Hospital , she had a lot to learn, and fast.

"At the start, so as the population is very nervous, coronavirus, so we as doctors," says Dr. Trujillo, a 35-year-old Mexican renal and intensive care specialist, does not accept he is an expert in infectious disease.

"offense, But as the days and medical publications start Coming Out , we have learned a lot. The Hospital Committee meets Every Day to look over the various treatments, and what, in the analysis," he adds.

Have a doctors sick due to poor health?

health workers have unions, The Hospital authorities have accused of Failure to The Best personal protective equipment (PPE) for physicians and Nurses .

This could be The Most important reason why Spain has one of the largest known levels of infection among health professionals in The World , with More Than 27,500 Covid-19 catch.

12 de Octubre hospital declined to comment on the issues in this article, but the staff paint a differentiated picture of the availability of PSA.

Dr. Morales paints a frightening picture of bottlenecks in The Hospital

Enrique Morales , a 52-year-old kidney specialist, says That he has full use of plastic protective equipment when visiting Covid-19-patients, but for other work, has a paper dress as a protection.

"The bottlenecks we had exposed anyway brutally," he told The Bbc .

From The Second week of The Crisis , PPE was scarce, says Dr. Trujillo. Respiratory protection masks ran out, and so you had two surgical masks as an alternative. "We doctors are back of patients, so it is important for Nurses . "

Dr. Trujillo is in the nature of the surgical mask, the doctors and Nurses had to use, if better equipment ran out,

Because there was not enough protective gear, Nurses said They had too often to what They had, sometimes for a whole shift.

Eugenia Cuesta says, the risks are much too high.

Eugenia CuestaTwo pair of gloves, the power of touch harder. Goggles steam and I see people, to touch them and take them off you because you sister

"say tiredEugenia Cuesta
sick, The mortality is nothing like Ebola, so That we can accept in The End , the lack of security," she says.

her colleague, Laura Andújar also coronavirus caught. First came the case of the typical fever, pain in the limbs and loss of taste and smell.

she believes They should all have been shown to prevent the infection among The Hospital Team .

defiantly, Laura Andújar is wearing a visor with the mantra "Together we will win"

Dr. Morales required hospital treatment After the catch Covid-19 and right errors, the health of the workers, whether They have symptoms or not, has The System under more pressure.

difficult decisions in hard times

Under Spain's lockdown laws hospital patients, visitors, and for some patients, the feeling of absolute loneliness exacerbates the disease.

"They are like a plague victim, which allowed no visits," says Dr. Morales, "trapped between the Four Walls , and only the occasional health-workers greeted them From Afar . "

For all, the health of the workers, The Crisis , the impossible dilemmas.

speaks ill of separating sister Cuesta to elderly couples, if one of the tests to go positive and The Other must be Home Alone .

Dr. Morales, it is the decision on who the intensive care bed, and who is not.

"When she says two 35-year-old, and has kidney problems, enter the location of the kidney problems," Dr. Morales. Some of his kidney patients have a good chance of survival, but died, he said.

Laura Andújar's work Leaves you crying Every Day at the thought That people die alone.

"There was an Old Lady , she was so frightened and struggling to breathe," says Laura Andújar. "I thought The Most important thing I could do was stay there and hold your hand for Five Minutes . "

"In my mask and glasses, she could not see my mouth, but I smiled with the eyes. It was actually better. "

of course This is not always the case, and the Information of the members is made all the more difficult by a lack of physical proximity to The Family .

"If the things stated to go badly with a patient, we would usually speak several times A Day with A Family ," the ICU Doctor , Ruben Viejo. Formed on 12 de Octubre, he is now working in another hospital.

Medical personnel have to miss all of the difficult decisions about patients, which is in the last few weeks

there, the whole family and the Doctor for any negative news, but now relatives That completely.

"you don't even know exactly where the patient is, whether you are dressed properly and if They are clean. And you can say good-bye.

"It's different than anything we have seen before. The immune system goes haywire and there is greater swelling in the lungs, but also blood clots of blood to appear in the lungs and in blood vessels in other countries can lead to organ Failure . "

A look of hope

things began to improve in The Hospital .

the results are always learning better than doctors, about the disease and the pressure on resources is relieved when the rate of new infections in Madrid drops to less than 2% per day.

"In bad times, to help people," says Ms Andújar. "You are the creation of neighborhood networks and provides what we need. Well done to so many people stay home and the hell of a time now past. "

"We hear the applause and the head in the direction of the window. It charges us with energy. We all have recordings of him on our phones," says Dr. Viejo.

not everyone believes, However, That it will take.

"Today, we get applause at 8pm every night, but I'm not sure That we warn the same support, if we are demonstrating for better conditions and support for the Public Health ," Eugenia Cuesta. "People forget quickly. "

coronavirus pandemic, doctors, spain

Source of news: bbc.com