“The idea came after the sudden death of a patient without having had time to initiate management. Post-mortem tests confirmed the diagnosis of Covid-19. Then we understood that we had to get involved in the management of Covid-19 cases in the far North, as we do for all other pathologies, “explains Dr. Jean GetoDubé, Executive Director of the Hospital Justinienacademic.
Located in the heart of the city of Cap-Haitien, Justinien hospital is one of the largest hospitals in the country in terms of capacity, diversity of services offered and the university vocation that often requires it to receive patients as a last resort.
Struck like all other health institutions by the brutality of the pandemic, this hospital saw its interns, residents and doctors on duty struck down by fear before finding the right formula to take the bull Covid-19 by the horns.
“We are health professionals, we have to face it. At first, we needed to take a step back, but in the end, if we had not done so, no one else was going to come and help the sick, ”said Dr. Dubé, a trained urologist.
A multi-part sorting system
The formula to put the people of the Far North in confidence, Dr. Dubé found it through his concern “not to let Covid-19 cases mix with those who have other pathologies.”
“The only way to do that was to put in place a solid triage system,” said Justinien University Hospital executive director. An arrival triage system was implemented, along with an awareness session in another room designated for this purpose in the emergency department. After evaluation, if the person meets the criteria for hospitalization, we refer them to our Covid-19 unit. There are two places where we can keep the person under observation before arriving at this stage, so it is difficult for a symptomatic patient to be missed by our system. ” Continue reading.