The article is continuously updated. Stavanger University Hospital (SUS) has received so many patients that they have raised the alert level to yellow. In a message, SUS writes that the staffing level is being raised to safeguard the safety of patients, ensure the necessary staffing and to have the capacity to handle accidents and incidents. – The situation must now be handled with further expanded efforts and extraordinary resources and measures, writes SUS. Follow the press conference at SUS here: Many are in hospital with respiratory infections In the report, hospital operations are referred to as “very demanding”. Deputy managing director Elisabeth Farbu confirms this to news on Friday morning. – There are an extremely large number of patients. In addition, we have a high level of sickness absence among our employees. It is very challenging for the operation of the hospital, says Farbu. Stavanger University Hospital is in a demanding situation, and is raising the level of preparedness. Photo: Øystein Otterdal / Øystein Otterdal A great many patients need infection isolation. Many are ill due to covid-19, influenza and the RS virus. When abnormal events occur, the hospital management can initiate a yellow, green or red alert. For almost two weeks, SUS has been on green standby. Now the emergency level at the hospital has therefore been raised to “yellow” – the only one in Norway. This means green, yellow and red preparedness Green preparedness: An unclear situation where extraordinary resources and measures may be needed. There is a limited need for additional resources. The situation may require increased attention. Yellow alert: An unwanted incident with a limited scope has occurred. The situation must be handled with extended efforts/extraordinary resources and measures. Red alert: A serious adverse event has occurred. There is a great need for extraordinary resources and measures. Source: Helse Stavanger Large influx of patients at Ahus and St. Olav Other hospitals also report a large influx of patients with influenza and respiratory infections. St. Olav’s hospital in Trondheim has increased its preparedness to green level due to a high influx of patients. 11 patients have been admitted with covid-19 as the primary diagnosis. The children’s and youth clinic is seeing an increase in the number of patients with RS virus and influenza. – Many patients come in with various respiratory symptoms and must be handled as infectious patients. It is full at the large departments and busy days, says Marit Kvikne at St. Olavs. At Sykehuset Levanger, a third of the patients have infections that require isolation. Many employees are ill, and the hospital has had to mobilize to keep staffing up. – In the first half of this week, we have had to hire 88 extra guards to get the wheels turning, says clinic manager and senior doctor Carl Platou to news. Senior doctor Carl Platou at Levanger Hospital says that it takes a lot of space to keep patients separated to avoid infection, and some have to lie in corridors. Photo: Tariq Alisubh / news Before Christmas, Akershus University Hospital had between 45 and 55 patients admitted with covid-19, but few of them needed intensive care. Ahus has not introduced any new measures over Christmas. – The number of patients with various respiratory infections is still high. Overall, the number of patients has been lower over Christmas and Christmas Eve than before Christmas. The capacity has been consistently good, says Dagfinn Aanonsen.
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