Nonthaburi field hospital adds an ICU

Yesterday, the Busarakham field hospital in Nonthaburi, a central Thai province, opened its first intensive care unit. The ICU will treat people who have severe cases of Covid who are waiting to be admitted to general hospitals.

Dr Kittisak Aksornwong, the assistant permanent secretary of public health, says the ICU, which is located in the parking lot behind the field hospital at the IMPACT Convention Centre, will help deal with the issue of severe cases at field hospital who need to go to a general hospital. Such hospitals are better equipped but make the people who have severe cases of Covid wait because of bed shortages.

The intensive care unit comes with 17 beds. 13 of the beds are allotted for ICU patients and the remaining 4 beds are negative pressure rooms. All of the equipment comes from the National Research Institute.

Dr Kittisak adds that medical specialists that come from provincial hospitals will be rotated through the field hospital to make the workload more manageable for the permanent staff. The doctor says that the number of people who need oxygen has decreased.

Further, Dr Kittisak says the hospital has taken a “fast track” strategy for the admission process, wherein frail patients will be separated from healthier patients. Also, medication will be distributed, and blood tests will be taken on admission. And the hospital will be cleaned more often.

SOURCE: Thai PBS