Boston doctor: Lack of routine and emergency health care ‘collateral damage’ of pandemic

Delays in routine or emergency medical care brought on by the pandemic is causing “collateral damage” to the health system that could soon lead to a surge in patients heading to the hospital with heart attack or stroke symptoms, a Boston doctor said.

“Time is of the essence and you really, really should come in. And the hospital is not a haunted house or a scary place where we can’t take care of you. We are very well ready to take care of you and you will be safe in that situation,” said Dr. Amar Dhand, a Brigham and Women’s Hospital neurologist.

Dhand, speaking in a Wednesday Lyceum Live series on the COVID-19 pandemic said the volume of stroke patients at BWH in April and May was down 40%. He said it was because patients delayed coming into the hospital.

“In the next coming weeks there’s going to be a surge of patients who are going to come to clinic or the hospital with with heart attack symptoms or stroke symptoms that were not acted upon at the time. So that’s a collateral damage,” said Dhand.

Medical professionals have long been encouraging patients to seek care if they are sick, saying the hospital is a safe place, as previously reported in the Herald.

Dhand said it takes time for people to come to the hospital, and the decision to wait it out or get an issue taken care of is directly related to their social network.

“It has to do with the negotiation that occurs within their social network and what resources are inside of that network in order to facilitate the patient to come to the hospital immediately,” said Dhand.

Advice or suggestions from family members weigh heavily on a patient, said Dhand, and getting to the hospital quickly if there is an emergency is crucial.

Mental health has also been severely impacted by the pandemic and the prolonged periods of social isolation experienced by many.

Dhand said many patients, whether they have coronavirus or not, had been diagnosed with delirium during the spring peak, which was triggered or worsened by the restrictive hospital environment where family members could not visit.

“The delirium we saw was refractory, it was not easily controlled,” said Dhand, adding that some confused patients would lash out at hospital workers, hallucinate, or constantly ask where they were.

Access to technology such as a phone or tablet to interact with family and friends was helpful but not always feasible, said Dhand.

He said paying close attention to mental and physical health needs as the pandemic inches along and vaccines roll out will be key.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3hwyjMG