A transfer of patients from Lyon, during the second wave last fall – Laurent Cipriani / AP / SIPA
- Faced with the third wave of Covid-19 which is currently sweeping the region, patient transfers have resumed.
- The aim is to relieve intensive care and anticipate future bed needs.
- By the end of the week, all non-urgent interventions and activities must also have been deprogrammed in the hospitals and clinics of Auvergne Rhône-Alpes in order to redeploy resources to the sheave.
We are still far from the number of displacements of patients observed in Auvergne Rhône-Alpes during the second wave, which was particularly virulent in the region. But faced with the epidemic rebound, all the measures to relieve congestion in the intensive care units have been reactivated. Since mid-March, twelve coronavirus patients have been transferred to the region, learns 20 minutes this Wednesday from the Regional Health Agency. And two patients must be sick today.
These transfers, “organized by the medical teams and in agreement with the families of patients” took place mainly from the Rhône and the Loire, the hardest hit by the third wave for the time being, to Puy de Dôme, details the health authority. They are put in place “in a logic of anticipation, so as not to reach a level of saturation in hospital services”, just like requests for deprogramming of activities, further specifies the ARS.
Non-urgent interventions back to a standstill
In a letter sent Tuesday to all directors of private and public health establishments in the region, the ARS asked to deprogram all non-urgent surgical and non-intervention activities “and without loss of proven short-term opportunity for the patient. patient ‘, as well as outpatient surgery. A measure applicable for at least two weeks which must be effective as soon as possible and no later than Friday. Transplants, chronic pathologies, oncology and non-deferred pediatric activities are not affected by this deprogramming request.
“The medical and non-medical resources released will be made available to establishments authorized for resuscitation or continuous monitoring with the aim of increasing the capacity of critical care beds”, underlines the ARS. On Tuesday, 2,231 Covid-19 patients were hospitalized in the region, and 495 patients admitted to intensive care. This critical care now benefits from 852 beds, or 296 more than the initial capacity of the sheave, assures the same source. However, the intensive care occupancy rate remains high and exceeds 95% on average.
The Rhône, which records an incidence rate of the disease of 546.7 cases per 100,000 inhabitants is the most affected in the large region by the epidemic rebound, ahead of the Loire (455 cases). Ain and Isère flirt with 400 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, according to data from Public Health France stopped on April 3. Ardèche and Cantal are the least affected sectors, no doubt because of their rural nature.