Nearly 5,000 medical tests and 500 operations postponed due to the general blackout

BarcelonaAs a legacy of the pandemic, the Catalan health system has a multitude of contingency plans to respond to external phenomena quickly and flexibly. The latest example of an emergency situation shook the Iberian Peninsula on Monday. While the country held its breath for an unprecedented blackout that paralyzed everythingPrimary care centers (CAPs) and hospitals ensured that all urgent activity that could not be postponed could be handled normally. However, to ensure they had sufficient energy and to avoid travel at this most uncertain time, almost 5,000 medical tests and 500 operations were postponed, according to provisional data from the Department of Health. Sources consulted by ARA emphasize that all interventions without serious impacts on care are already being rescheduled.

"We were prepared: the large hospitals responded well and we had no significant problems," assures Raquel Sánchez-Valle, director of care at Hospital Clínic, who headed the center's crisis committee. According to provisional data from the Department of Health, at least 2,490 radiology tests, 355 endoscopies, and 1,983 other types of tests have been postponed across the public system, in addition to 500 non-urgent surgical operations. Until the emergency is deactivated in Catalonia, "maximum alert" will remain in place in all hospitals, which They already operate with 100% of the energy.

During the blackout, hospitals operated autonomously thanks to their generators. Specifically, Trueta, Puigverd, Taulí, and Clínic had 24-hour autonomy, Vall d'Hebron Hospital for 40 hours, and Germans Trias i Pujol Hospital for 50 hours. This resulted in "little healthcare impact," as they performed all urgent surgical procedures that couldn't be rescheduled, explains Sánchez-Valle. At Clínic, for example, they rescheduled diagnostic tests and endoscopies, and suspended all activity at the Hemodialysis Center on Manso Street.

70,000 appointments at the Primary Care Centers

In this hospital, the smell of diesel fuel was intense, and the noise of the generators, which hadn't been turned on for a long time, was heard everywhere, but they managed to treat all the people who couldn't wait. Despite the hospitals' rapid response, the Clínic's healthcare director acknowledges that there are areas that need to be improved, such as communication with other hospitals and primary care centers. "We have the electrical system well covered, but we'll have to do something to ensure there are no problems communicating with each other next time," she concludes. As the blackout also affected the mobile phone network, the centers had difficulty exchanging information and updating their status with the wider system.

According to Elisabet Descals, the director of Primary and Community Care at the Catalan Health Institute (ICS), the vast majority of primary care centers continued providing care despite the massive blackout. The centers that have emergency services have a generator, so they operated relatively normally, and the medications kept in their refrigerators didn't spoil because the cold chain wasn't broken. On the other hand, other centers, such as the Sort CAP, didn't have a generator and had to come up with imaginative solutions: they brought some medications that must be kept cold at the Mossos d'Esquadra police station, which does have an alternative system in case of a power failure.

By text message, the CAPs notified users that their afternoon appointments were canceled. Nearly 70,000 appointments will have to be rescheduled due to the blackout. Even so, Descals maintained that the contingency plans worked, that power was available in the vast majority of centers, and that the CAPs worked closely with hospitals and the Emergency Medical System (SEM) to provide care that couldn't be postponed.

Regarding the impact on public health, the Health Department assures that 80% of the stored vaccines are suitable and that the remaining 20% are pending assessment, but it is confident that the vast majority will also be suitable. In the refrigerators of Catalan laboratories where cultures, strains, and samples are stored, the impact "will be limited," and in slaughterhouses "there have been practically no incidents."

Telecare and poisoning

The SEM (Emergency Medical Service) attended to more than 340 cases related to oxygen administration at home and in nursing homes, and Barcelona's home telecare center handled 1,566 calls during the massive blackout, but 975 alarms were activated that could not be connected. According to the City Council, these requests have been addressed since the restoration of the power grid, and the service will be reinforced in the coming days with a massive monitoring campaign for more than 100,000 users, starting with the most dependent.

In addition, at least 21 people have required treatment for carbon monoxide inhalation. The residents treated are from Barcelona, ​​​​Terrassa, Vinyols and Els Arcs, Sant Juan de Vilatorrada, Constantí, Calaf, Amposta, and Sant Pere de Riudebitlles. All were transferred to different hospitals with varying severity. In addition, in the Galician municipality of Taboadela, three people died from carbon monoxide inhalation. They were a married couple, aged 81 and 77, and their 56-year-old son. Emergency crews received notification that a fourth person had found the bodies at 12:55 p.m.