Emergency rooms run off their feet as ‘toughest’ Covid wave grows
Queensland emergency rooms are facing their toughest Covid-19 wave to date as sickness and worker fatigue aggravate staff shortages, a leading doctor says.
Emergency departments are facing their toughest test yet amid a growing Covid wave. (AAP Image/Darren England)
Emergency medicine has become less attractive since the beginning of the pandemic two years ago, AMA Queensland Ramping Roundtable chair, Kim Hansen told ABC radio Brisbane on Monday.
“Emergency departments are really staffed mostly by junior doctors with some senior doctors supervising them, and the junior doctors in particular are choosing other paths,” she said.
“My colleagues are feeling the stress and some of them are getting burnt out which is just so sad to see.
“Many waiting rooms, emergency beds and wards are at capacity and ambulance ramping is an ongoing issue,” Hansen said.
“I think this is the toughest (wave) yet. The numbers are pretty huge and we’ve got influenza on top of that,” she said.
Queensland’s current Covid-19 wave is expected to peak in coming weeks, and Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has encouraged residents to wear masks when indoors in public.
“The best way to slow this wave down is to wear masks,” she said on Saturday.
“This is to help our hospitals, our doctors, our nurses. It’s to help our workforce.”
Students and teachers are also being encouraged to wear masks at school where social distancing isn’t possible.
Some 876 people are in Queensland hospitals with Covid-19, with 20 in ICU.
