A&E doc’s new Covid warning
Doctor tells of fight to keep patients alive
A top emergency doctor this week told how Covid patients in Ayrshire are dying in A&E.
Dr David Chung has revealed that patients are being rushed into emergency units with breathing difficulties before suffering
a deadly blood clot in their lungs.
He wants people to be aware of how dangerous Covid can be and dispel any myths that it is only the vulnerable who are becoming sick.
Dr Chung told the Post: “During the first wave last year, I did not write any death certificates for Covid in the department (A&E) – I have done that a fair number of times this time round.
“There are people under 30 I know who have not made it in Ayrshire, no one is immune from the effects of this virus.”
Ayrshire Covid patients are dying in A&E for the first time during the pandemic, a top emergency doctor has revealed.
Dr David Chung, 49, former vice-president of the Royal College for Emergency Medicine in Scotland, has told how he had to write less than half a dozen certificates in one week.
It comes as the number of patients admitted to hospital in Ayrshire soared between December 1 from 95 to 217 by January 17.
The emergency consultant at Crosshouse Hospital has revealed that patients are being rushed into emergency units with breathing difficulties before suffering a deadly blood clot in their lungs.
Tragically A&E is as far as they get, with other wards struggling to meet the demand and hundreds of doctors and nurses off, either off sick or self-isolating due to Covid.
Dr Chung told the Post: “During the first wave last year I did not write any death certificates for Covid in the department (A&E), I have done that a fair number of times this time round.
“Last week (January 4 to 10) I did several at Crosshouse and my colleagues at Ayr are having to do so the same.”
Dr Chung fears the rise in case numbers is leading to more people becoming seriously ill in a short space of time.
He has told how their bodies become starved of oxygen which results in them suffering a heart attack.
Dr Chung said: “When they first come in, we know they are unwell.
“We try to give them oxygen but they become more and more breathless, they then struggle to breathe and we try to use machines to help them do that.
“We then give them drugs if we think there is blood clots.
“But not to split hairs. They are suffering a heart attack, if they can’t get enough oxygen into their body, it’s enough that their heart stops beating.
“It takes more staff and hours to try and resuscitate them, we are spending more time on someone than we might have done in the past because we have better treatments.
“Sometimes we can be trying to save them over a couple of hours.
“We could be chatting to them and doing our initial assessment, then come back and they have deteriorated so quickly.”
Dr Chung believes Ayrshire is now in the midst of a pandemic as bad as London experienced in the first wave and he is determined not to see Scotland become as bad as the UK capital’s current Covid crisis where patients are having to be moved to hotels to free up space.
He added: “Colleagues in London have told us this was what to expect, they were dealing with this in the first wave.
“I remember speaking to one who said they will have people asking ‘am I going to be okay?’ they told me ‘we are doing their best to save them, but we just don’t know the answer’. That is now happening here, with young and old people.”
Dr Chung wants people to be aware of how dangerous Covid can be and dispel any myths that it is only the vulnerable who are becoming sick.
Through his time working he has noticed those young and fit need ventilators, some of whom haven’t made it.
He added: “It is frustrating that you get a lot of Covid deniers who say if I am fit and healthy then I won’t catch coronavirus. It is not just those who are ‘shielding’, diabetic, or who have underlying health conditions who can die of Covid.
“I’ve seen people who were running half marathons a couple of months ago end up in intensive care and they can’t run the length of themselves now.
“There are people under 30 I know who have not made it in Ayrshire, no- one is immune from the effects of this virus.”
Dr Chung is concerned over the pressure colleagues at both Ayr and Crosshouse are being placed under, with the number of patients in both hospitals triple the amount seen in the first wave.
Last week the number of patients in hospitals across Ayrshire hit 210 and Dr Chung fears if this number rises then the health board will be plunged into a crisis.
He explains: “Right now it’s a bit like watching the flood water come up and just waiting to see if it’s going to flood your house.
“Our plan is to release more beds, we can’t add any beds all we can do is free up beds. It changes daily but the worry is the rise in cases, that is really worrying.
“As doctors we want to see the numbers come down, when we see 2,000 new positive cases in Scotland we know that 10 per cent of those people will get sick.
“If we were to see another 100 Covid patients on top of what we have, we will really struggle.
“If we don’t see the numbers go down then I really think the NHS will be unable to cope.”
Dr Chung is really concerned over the lack of staff with 191 struck down by coronavirus and a further 38 self-isolating due to track and trace.
He has noticed doctors and nurses have been off sick in “every shift” he has worked.
Dr Chung said: “Without staff all the machines and equipment is useless, you need staff to be able to provide the right care. It is a major problem if they are off self-isolating or they have got the disease themselves.”
Last week Nicola Sturgeon announced further stricter lockdown measures to reinforce the law to ‘stay at home’.
Dr Chung is desperately hoping that message is listened to as he sees full families admitted to hospital.
He said: “What we are seeing now is that we will be treating relatives just days apart for Covid.
“It is so important that people stick to the rules and stop mixing. If we can do that then we will see the numbers come down.
“Think about it, can you order something online instead of going
to the shop? Can you try and stop going to the shop more frequently?”
Dr Chung is hopeful that the tough measures plus the vaccine can help tackle the crisis.
And drawing comparisons with the nail biting end of a Scotland qualifying game he hopes that the nation can get over the line like they did last year in Serbia.
He added: “The way I see it is we are in the last five minutes of a Scotland game.
“We can’t celebrate until the final whistle, until we get over the line, we have always been known for our glorious failures, but this is more crucial- this is a matter of life and death.
“We are grateful in the NHS that the majority of people have stuck to the rules, there is no doubt about that, but we are nearly there, don’t blow it at the end, keep the head.”