Collateral damage in times of a pandemic
I want to post the following article on Medium in the near future. So feedback from the readers here on CoWriters I would be highly grateful. I know there are way better English writing people here than I am. Also, so you know, my Grammarly is set to British English.
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Collateral damage in times of a pandemic
A look at Austria
The COVID-19 virus hit Austria pretty hard, in a town in Tyrol. A waiter came to work from the already affected Lombardy in Italy.
Things escalated and the Virus was spreading across Europe. The Austrian Government reacted after things went wrong in Ischgl. A nationwide lockdown was ordered.
After a few weeks, the infected counter showed a downward trend. But at what cost?
Economy
The unemployment rate rose, many companies don’t have a clear vision of their future. Will they be able to survive the ongoing crisis?
Existences were and are in danger. People living on the poverty line.
And all that happened in a matter of weeks. But, I’m not an economist. I can only replicate what I hear in the media.
Health System
But I can talk about the impact on the health system. I’m working as a volunteer paramedic. I know many people working in hospitals and nursing homes. Throughout my paramedic shifts, I talked to a few of them. Like every other, I’m keeping myself updated through the news.
The capacity of intensive care beds is only used to one-thirds. At least that is was the news tell and represents what I heard from colleagues.
Of course, that is good, but there is a silver lining. Many non-urgent surgeries were postponed. Everything that didn’t have to happen immediately was put on hold.
“The heart attack rate is going down”
was an argument I heard. Can the heart attack even go down when the country is still the same?
Sure, fewer people working could mean less stress and thus fewer heart attacks. But in such quantities that it is that noticeable?
I transported many people throughout my paramedic career to the hospital. The elderly or sever injured have one thing in common, the fear that they might die soon. You don’t go to the hospital if you don’t have a condition that could be life-threatening.
Now, with the coronavirus “lurking” everywhere, this fear is even greater.
“If I call an ambulance I might get infected”
“They are already overworked, I don’t want to bother them”
“I might get infected during my stay at the hospital”
The above arguments I heard myself or I heard them through colleagues.
Infection during transport to the hospital is almost impossible. The same goes for stays inside the hospital. A small risk is always there, but let me dig a little bit deeper.
After infectious transport, the ambulance goes through several cleaning and disinfection steps. The paramedics wear a whole bodysuit so they don’t get contaminated.
Inside the hospitals, hygiene standards are even higher. An infected or suspicious person has to use a completely different entry. There are separate departments for suspected cases, positive and negative patients. Everything is done so this patient groups never meet during their stay.
Still, the fear is there and because it isn’t easy to overcome, people stay at home.
“Although I feel like I have a heart attack, I don’t think it is one. I’m staying at home.”
Symptoms of heart attacks or strokes might vanish after a few hours. But they indicated something is wrong. Death is never far away if you don’t treat severe diseases.
So yes, it might be good that the heart attack rate is going down, but is it? Or are people staying at home in fear?
The next few months will show. Besides, the unrecorded deaths might be higher than the “actual” corona deaths.
Disclaimer: Opinions are my own. Facts might not be accurate although I’m doing my best. As I’ve written, I’m only a voluntary paramedic. I see only a small part of the whole health system.