Officials expect thousands to be hospitalized in the coming weeks when the COVID-19 omicron wave peaks across the country.
If you feel like you need to go to the hospital, here’s what you need to know.
When should you go in an emergency?
You’re isolating from COVID, you’ve got your supply of paracetamol and ibuprofen, but you’re feeling worse and worse.
“If you have difficulty breathing, get treated,” said Luke Lawton, emergency medicine director at Townsville University Hospital.
Dr. Lawton said simple tests can help you decide whether you need to go to the hospital, such as climbing a flight of stairs or walking to a mailbox.
“If they’re having trouble getting around their house or doing something they normally do without discomfort and at the end of it they’re feeling breathless, it probably is. [someone having] Difficulty in breathing,” he said.
Lawton said other symptoms of anxiety include coughing and not holding your breath after coughing.
The Queensland Ambulance Service states that you should call Triple-0 (000) if you:
- are so breathless that you can’t say short sentences while you rest
- sudden difficulty in breathing or you have shortness of breath
- feeling cold and sweaty with pale or blotchy skin
- Have a rash that looks like a small rash or bleeding under the skin and doesn’t fade when you roll a glass over it
- fall or faint
- feeling agitated, confused or too sleepy
- Stop urinating or urinate less than usual.
What if I am pregnant or immunocompromised?
Dr Lawton said if you are considered high risk – for example, pregnant, immunocompromised, have chronic conditions – you may have already been admitted to a virtual ward where you will be cared for remotely. .
But if that hasn’t happened, Dr. Lawton recommends contacting your GP or health officials.
“I think it’s also worth [calling] COVID phone number (134 on 268), just to let them know.”
What if I live in a rural area and my nearest major hospital is hours away?
Toowoomba Hospital chief executive Shirley-Anne Gardner said there are plans to treat patients in rural hospitals.
She said that if patients become really ill they would be shifted to a major regional center like Toowoomba.
Ms. Gardner said, “Please go to your local hospital. They can then arrange for a transfer, or they can treat you at the facility.”
What should I do if I need treatment for something that is not COVID?
Hospitals are expected to stretch in the coming weeks and Dr Lawton is urging people to consider carefully whether they need to go to the emergency department.
“There are some things that probably aren’t emergencies and could go elsewhere,” he said.
He said the ED would be open for any emergency, such as a child suffering from fever.
But he added that the process would take longer than usual due to the COVID precautions.
“It’s hard for us and we’re busy, and please be patient and understand that our purpose remains the same – to do the best we can for all of us.”
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