Coronavirus: Doctor asks patients not to strain the emergency room

The biggest concern of some young people right now is getting bored at home. Moritz '* greatest concern is seeing patients die from the coronavirus during his work. Moritz is actually an ophthalmologist at a university clinic. However, he already expects that he will soon have to examine patients with the coronavirus. Because in an emergency – and this is very likely to happen – all doctors have to help. His job includes 24-hour shifts, where he works in the emergency room at night. He is dreading the coming weeks. Even in the normal state, doctors sleep little or not at all during a 24-hour shift. With a little luck, four hours, says Moritz. He got used to it. What he cannot and does not want to get used to are patients who burden the emergency room with unimportant little things. The place that could be vital for survival in the coming weeks.

The doctors are already familiar with the fact that emergencies do not always come only in emergencies. "But at least now I thought if the government asked to leave the house only for the most urgent things, it would get better," says Moritz.

His voice on the phone sounds angry, but also a little helpless. "I just can't understand it. We have already explained it so often. The media explain it, the politicians explain it, the hospital staff explains it: Please stay at home if possible. This also means routine examinations at the doctor or patients who burden the emergency room with absolute ridiculousness. "

Patients with shampoo in the eye and itching in the genital area

In his past 24-hour service, a woman came to Moritz with a shampoo in her eye. Another time, a patient with ingrown hair in her eyebrow.

"A couple with itching in the genital area came into the service of a colleague from another department in the middle of the night," says Moritz. "The emergency room is not intended for any problems, but for emergencies. Right now."

The problem: Too many people fall ill with the corona virus at the same time, which no hospital staff in Germany will be able to handle. Doctors like Moritz emphasize that even people who have no symptoms can be infected without realizing it. If these people sit in waiting rooms, they could possibly infect high-risk patients. But instead of being considerate and acting cautiously and in solidarity, not only the city centers, but also the doctor's offices and hospitals are still well attended – often because of trifles like an itchy eyelid.

Disinfectant dispensers in the hospital were unscrewed and taken away

Moritz's suggestion to patients who are unsure whether they could be serious is to wait and see. Some complaints would improve on their own after a few hours. "If someone comes up to me in the middle of the night and says that he woke up lying face down in his arms and could hardly have seen – in the dark – but now that it is good again, I don't know what to do."

He advises patients who burden the clinics with avoidable examinations to cancel on their own initiative. Because many doctors have not yet received permission to do so. Therefore, non-time-critical controls and operations are still taking place in the hospitals. And he has another request: "The time now waiting for the staff is hard enough. The patients should not only think about themselves. Some of the clinicians even unscrewed our disinfectant dispensers from the toilets and took them home. Others come for a specific exam and then sniff us why we are not testing them for the corona virus, others explain to doctors that everything with corona is just scaremongering, but I can assure everyone who has doubts that this is not scaremongering "We can only hope that the patients think along. Take Corona seriously and don't come to the emergency room with every shit right now."

* Moritz is actually called differently. His full name is known to the editors.

This article was originally published on stern.de.