[사회][뉴스큐] “I’m trapped and dying”… What is the situation in the nursing hospital for smiles?

■ Progress: Anchor Youngsoo Kim, Anchor Ryeowon Kang
■ Cast: Yoon Hee-sang / Guro Smile Medical Center Director

* The text below may differ from the actual broadcast content, so please check the broadcast for more accurate information.

[앵커]

As the COVID-19 outbreak spread in nursing hospitals across the country, quarantine took an emergency.

In order to prevent further spread, the quarantine authorities entered the same group quarantine. Rather, the number of patients increased and the number of medical personnel to treat them was extremely short, leading to deaths.

[앵커]

We will connect to the Miso Nursing Hospital in Guro-gu to see the current situation and how we are preparing measures. Hee-sang Yoon, Director of the Control Office. Chief, are you with me?

[윤희상]

Good morning. Can you hear me?

[앵커]

I can hear it. You are wearing protective clothing now. Are you in a difficult situation? The number of patients in nursing hospitals keeps increasing rapidly? How many confirmed patients are there in the nursing hospital right now?

[윤희상]

According to the situation compiled this morning, there are currently confirmed cases. It is a situation in which 11 confirmed cases have occurred from outside because of the connection with the hospital.

[앵커]

There are nearly 170 confirmed cases in the hospital alone, and the same group was quarantined. What do you think is the reason why the number of confirmed cases soared so much in 15 days?

[윤희상]

After we first found the confirmed patients, a full investigation was conducted, and then we had 27 confirmed patients. We have entered into a cohort action.

Once we did a full investigation, we conducted the investigation every 3 days, and it took another whole day to check the results, so even if the confirmed patients were classified, it was not known where the confirmed patients occurred. So, in this situation, we were concerned about those who have already been confirmed as confirmed, but we are guessing that the confirmed patients we do not know are spreading by infecting others.

[앵커]

It is a very difficult situation. It means that the people who have been confirmed are infecting other hospital patients.

In the case of patients who have been confirmed, it is urgent to move quickly to a treatment hospital specializing in Corona 19. How many days does it actually take to be transferred to such a hospital?

[윤희상]

It seems that we first occurred now and is now on the 16th. There are 22 patients and confirmed patients in our hospital.

There are cases that occur every time, but during this period, there was also a Christmas holiday, so there were cases where only one or two confirmed patients were sent a day.

I heard that if you sent a lot, you just sent 12 patients. When you go out a lot, you go out a lot, but when it stops, it stops at all, and the spread continues in the park.

[앵커]

Even if they are in the same group quarantine now, even if they move the confirmed patients, what about the patients who have received a negative test now, it seems like a dangerous situation if they are in the same hospital. How are you taking action now?

[윤희상]

We have created a separate cohort isolation ward in the hospital, and the rest of the general patients are taken care of in the general patient ward, but confirmed patients are also emerging from the general patient ward.

This is a hospital based on nursing care, and because it is not a quarantine facility for infectious diseases, the path itself is completely separated, and it is not a structure that moves, and it is not possible to change these orders immediately. It is believed that it has become so cold that there is also an inevitable internal air infection.

[앵커]

i See. However, there are cases of infection by medical staff in hospitals, and many of the caregivers have become infected and leave the company? How much is it?

[윤희상]

Before this situation occurred, there were some carers and guardians in the hospital. In total, there were about 200 people.

Currently, less than 10% of the total number remains. Of the caregivers, 48 ​​were confirmed and quarantined, and 9 guardians were quarantined.

[앵커]

There are people who are now for treatment or management, and many people have been confirmed.

[윤희상]

That’s right. Once the case of our staff is confirmed, they are not put into work, but are quarantined and sent directly to the life treatment center.

Guardians and caregivers are also waiting at our hospital, and when a life treatment center is assigned, they are moving there.

[앵커]

Since the nursing hospital is not a hospital specializing in infectious diseases, various treatments are also difficult. However, it is not easy to move to another hospital. So, you have no choice but to continue to isolate the same group, right?

[윤희상]

Isolation of the same group, a lot of people say that it is a cohort, but as the cohort proceeds, the patients in the hospital are honestly in a situation where the severity of the nursing hospital has increased compared to the past.

Patients in the hospital always need acute treatment regardless of whether they go to the acute hospital while going to the outpatient clinic or go to the hospital, but they are bound under the name of in-hospital cohort isolation, so they cannot receive the necessary treatment. There are situations occurring that lead to such deaths.

[앵커]

So, what steps are needed right now?

[윤희상]

First of all, we are sending confirmed patients mainly for urgent patients, but we are unable to send urgent negative patients because there is no hospital to accept them.

Even if we say that we are negative patients, it is said that there are many hospitals that are reluctant to accept patients for our hospitals because it is a situation where we do not know at all when the negative patients will turn positive, whether this is an incubation period or being infected.

[앵커]

There are many elderly people with weak bodies in nursing hospitals, so there are some people whose bodies deteriorate rapidly over time after being tested positive, right?

[윤희상]

Yes. There have been four people who have died because their body deteriorated rapidly due to the positive test. On the contrary, there are nine people who have died who are negative patients.

[앵커]

What is the case when a negative patient dies?

[윤희상]

First of all, because there are some people who are dying at the facility called a nursing hospital, there are people who are dying, so from our point of view, people who are dying have always occurred.

And I think I’ve said many times about the lack of nursing staff. Since there is no caregiver required by patients, the nurse is working with the caregiver, so medical measures for these people are being carried out while struggling, but I am in doubt as to how well it is doing.

[앵커]

In the past, patients with negative voices could be transferred to an emergency hospital and treated immediately, but now that’s not the case, more deaths are coming?

[윤희상]

That’s right.

[앵커]

Earlier, you told me that there are only a few remaining medical staff and caregivers, but I think the remaining people will need to treat or manage those who have been diagnosed with the diagnosis or who are in the hospital.

I think the medical staff will be very tired. How are you now?

[윤희상]

We have several wards right now. In some wards, only 3 to 4 nurses may be assigned to care for patients.

It’s a situation where you can’t do shift work, 24 hours, 48 ​​hours, and keeps working, while taking care of the patient, falls down, gets nutritional supplements, wakes up and sees the patient, and the situation is repeated in this way.

[앵커]

It’s a really sad situation. So, the government today decided to urgently put 34 medical staff into the Smile Medical Center. When are you coming to the hospital?

[윤희상]

We received 2 manpower support from Seoul city yesterday. Two minutes tomorrow, four minutes the day after tomorrow, the nurses are now being supported slowly step by step, and we are looking forward to our breathing pains by them.

[앵커]

I wonder how difficult it would be to take care of all the patients wearing the protective clothing you are wearing now. Since the government has decided to put in 34 people, I feel relieved and fortunate.

What kind of work will you be in charge of when you are put in?

[윤희상]

Basically, once the nurses come, they will be put together in the ward and help us take care of our patients. In the case of nursing care workers, we will serve as caregivers for our patients.

[앵커]

Okay. There are people who are working for 48 hours in a row and are falling apart, and there are also people who are taking nutritional supplements and taking a patient treatment again, so I am very worried and heartbroken.

If you have any last words you would like to ask the quarantine authorities to say, I hope they will listen to this as soon as possible.

[윤희상]

We know that there are cases of confirmed cases in not only our hospital, but also in many nursing hospitals nationwide, and we know that the same measures are taken whether we are conducting a cohort between floors of nursing hospitals or cohorts at all floors.

However, nursing hospitals are originally operated as a system where medical staff provide medical care and caregivers do caring care, and caregivers are not rescued from our hospital, so if the caregivers leave to self-isolate, we Has no means to restrain it.

In such a situation, we try to resolve this situation without all the staff sleeping in 3 to 5 days of real excess patients.

All of the relief supplies and these things we had to prepare ourselves… Of course, there was support, but it was too small for us to take the whole thing.

We needed a large amount, but for that part, we called the company and somehow secured the goods through people we knew, and the problem was solved, and so many people support… Support for meals and drinks. And it gave me a lot of strength to the employees.

However, since such a nursing hospital is not a facility that can withstand the same group quarantine and cohort quarantine in the corona situation, the government really puts it in facility, manpower, or protective goods at the beginning when this happens. I think I would be very grateful if you would have had it evolved before the fire started.

[앵커]

Okay. You appealed to the quarantine authorities. It’s a very difficult situation, and you keep saying this.

I hope the government will come up with a countermeasure. Even in difficult situations, we will express our gratitude on behalf of the people for really striving to treat patients.

Thank you so much for telling me today. Please be careful with your health. It was Yun Hee-sang, head of the situation department of the nursing hospital thank you.

[윤희상]

Thank you.