“Many of the corona patients in the intensive care unit arrive there from the operating rooms or the emergency room,” says Merve. The External Triage Unit is part of the emergency room and is a temporary building outside the hospital. “Let’s take a look there.”
Physician assistant Tuğçe Atalık explains what the ETU is for: “The ETU serves to receive patients who are suspected of Covid-19, which can be people that come to the hospital on their own initiative or people who have been referred by their general practitioner. They are received here by students. First they are asked if they have any symptoms. If so, they stay and we, as triagists, estimate how sick they are”.
“If they’re very sick, they’ll get emergency treatment right away. If, for example, they need oxygen or antibiotics, they are treated immediately. If they’re fit enough, they can go to the ‘covid street’ in the hospital.”
Merve then goes through the procedure that patients undergo at the ETU, from the receptionist asking for symptoms to the covid street in the hospital.
During the corona crisis, medical students are working in Erasmus MC’s intensive care unit, where many corona patients are treated. Every week Merve Rousian, Britt Hoeven and Jasper Klasen vlog about their experiences in the ICU. Overview of all episodes >>
