Wir überwinden Grenzen

Comprehensive description of organizational processes, therapies and test procedures at the Medical Center - University of Freiburg published in scientific journal

Since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, more than 200 Covid-19 patients, some of them seriously ill, have already been treated at the Medical Center - University of Freiburg. Due to its proximity to Alsace and Switzerland, the hospital was involved in the care of these patients particularly early and intensively throughout Germany. Experts from the Medical Center - University of Freiburg have now summarized the strategy, organizational decisions and processes as well as the experiences and treatment results of the first 115 Covid-19 patients and published them in the journal Deutsche Medizinische Wochenschrift on 28 April 2020.

"The new coronavirus and the associated Covid-19 disease have posed major challenges for medical care systems worldwide within a very short space of time. Thanks in part to the experience gained from the Ebola Task Force in 2014, we were able to react quickly and in a coordinated manner at an early stage," says study leader Prof. Dr. Winfried Kern, Head of the Department of Infectious Diseases at the Department of Medicine II at the Medical Center - University of Freiburg.

The Department of Infectiology, the University Emergency Center, the Institute for Infection Prevention and Hospital Hygiene, the Institute for Virology, the Center for Medicine with Intensive Care, the Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, the nursing management, the hospital management and representatives of the Freiburg Health Department were all involved in the corona task force. This task force then advised and informed the hospital operations management team, which was responsible for coordinating and managing the Covid-19 measures. "With the model we developed, we were able to ensure the care of COVID-19 patients without bottlenecks and at the same time maintain the hospital's ability to act," says the lead author of the study, Prof. Dr. Siegbert Rieg, senior physician in the Department of Infectiology at the Department of Medicine II at the Medical Center - University of Freiburg.

Important steps at the hospital

In January, the Medical Center - University of Freiburg was one of the first institutions in Germany to carry out Sars-CoV-2 tests. A separate swabbing area made it possible to provide separate care for non-Covid and suspected Covid outpatients at an early stage. A newly established telephone hotline with up to 500 calls a day relieved the physicians, and more than 1,500 employees underwent special hygiene training. Under the direction of expert nursing and medical teams, around 50 additional beds were set up with intensive care medical standards in terms of equipment and treatment. At the same time, additional employees were trained in the care of critically ill Covid-19 patients.

Patients and therapy

The first 115 patients included in the study were on average 64 years old, 63% of those affected were male and 37% of patients suffered from pre-existing heart conditions. Of the 37 patients treated in the intensive care unit, 32 had to be ventilated. 8 people were at least temporarily connected to a heart-lung machine known as ECMO. At the end of the study period, 17 of the 115 patients had died, although this figure is still subject to change as some of the treatment had not yet been completed.

Original title of the study: COVID-19 care - strategies of the Coronavirus Task Force and experiences from the first 115 cases at the Medical Center - University of Freiburg

DOI: 10.1055/a-1147-6244

Link to the study: www.thieme-connect.com/products/ejournals/html/10.1055/a-1147-6244

Contact:
Prof. Dr. Winfried Kern
Head of the Department of Infectiology
Department of Medicine II (Focus: Gastroenterology, Hepatology, Endocrinology, Infectiology)
Medical Center - University of Freiburg
Phone: 0761 270-18190
winfried.kern@uniklinik-freiburg.de