Saarbruecken / St. Ingbert – In the Corona crisis, Saarland wants to increase the number of intensive care beds with ventilation capacity to 1,000. According to the Hospital Society in the State (SKG) on Thursday, there are currently 608 operational beds for intensive care, 459 of which have ventilation options. Ten days earlier, according to Prime Minister Tobias Hans (CDU), there were 521 intensive care beds, 396 of them with ventilation options. According to SKG Managing Director Thomas Jakobs, 141 ventilation places (as of April 1) were occupied, 38 with COVID 19 patients. Accordingly, 318 ventilation places were free – 27 more than on Monday last week.
“The problem is that the ventilation machines currently have a delivery time of 32 to 40 weeks,” said Jakobs. This is certainly also related to the fact that the federal government has ordered 10,000. He doesn’t yet know how much Saarland will get from it. If they are distributed according to the Konigstein key, it could be around 100 to 130. Supposedly there should be a delivery in June.
The veterinary clinic Elversberg also helps on the way to more intensive care beds with ventilation options. She provided two anesthetic machines with ventilation units to the district hospital in St. Ingbert. “This is a great gesture,” said SKG managing director Thomas Jakobs of the German press agency in Saarbrucken.
The managing director of the district hospital, Thorsten Eich, who is also a dog owner, said with a view to the help of the veterinary clinic: «They were incredibly cooperative. It was like neighborhood help – just great. » His wife had the idea of asking the veterinary colleagues for support. Alexander Pack, one of the heads of the veterinary clinic, said: “In these times we all have to stick together.” According to Eich, the devices are older models that were originally designed for use in human medicine. They would now be prepared accordingly and could probably be used from next week.
