Seeming to Run out of Destinations

KOMPAS/AGUS SUSANTO

Medical workers push patients into emergency tents that have been put into use in front of the emergency department (IGD) of the Chasbullah Abdulmadjid Regional General Hospital, Bekasi City, West Java, on Wednesday (23/6/2021).

Ari Budiman, 45, drove an ambulance from Tenjolaya village, West Bandung, West Java, bringing a resident who had COVID-19 to the Soreang Regional General Hospital (RSUD) on Friday afternoon on June 11. As soon as he was informed that there were no available beds at Soreang Hospital, he drove to the Unggul Karsa Media Hospital, which was also unable to accommodate any more patients.

The journey of the head of the welfare section of the Tenjolaya village administration to try to find hospital ended at A Rontisulu Lung Hospital at 11:30 p.m. “In the emergency room, you still had to queue. The patient finally got a room at 4 a.m.," said Ari on Tuesday.

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Over the last three weeks, almost every day, Ari and his colleagues have taken residents who were exposed to COVID-19 to the hospital. During that time, he has struggled to find isolation rooms at five hospitals. He spent a total of 12 hours on the road.

"If I can\'t stand it, I mostly sleep on the porch while wearing PPE [personal protective equipment]," said the father of two children. Before he returns home, he asks his wife to prepare hot water for bathing. He avoids meeting his family before bathing.

Tenjolaya village head Ismawanto Soemantri hopes a hotline number can be established to provide information on COVID-19 referral hospitals that can be accessed directly by village officials. “So when there is a case, the authorities can immediately take [the person to the appropriate place]. You don\'t have to bother going to two or three hospitals to determine the availability of isolation wards," he said.

DOKUMEN DESA TENJOLAYA

Residents used an ambulance owned by Tenjolaya Village, Pasirjambu District, Bandung Regency, West Java, some time ago. The village government provides ambulances for its residents, including those suffering from Covid-19.

There is no sign that their duties are slowing down. On Tuesday, the West Java COVID-19 Information and Coordination Center noted that the occupancy rates of isolation rooms at hospitals had reached 91.6 percent. This figure has tripled in 1.5 months.

Beyond the capability

At Gunung Jati Hospital in Cirebon city, West Java, the forensic team has been busier for the past two weeks as the death toll from COVID-19 has increased. On Tuesday, for example, the team handled 11 bodies. "This is the highest of the pandemic. In these 15 days, on average, we have handled 5 bodies per day," said Usman, a staff member at Gunung Jati Hospital.

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Deputy Director of Medical and Nursing Services at Gunung Jati Hospital, Maria Listiawaty, said that most of the COVID-19 patients who died had done so because they arrived at the hospital in a deteriorated condition. The patient\'s symptoms were shortness of breath and their oxygen saturation levels were well below 95 percent. “We try our best, even put them on a ventilator. However, this is beyond our capabilities," said Maria.

They are increasingly struggling to provide treatment to the COVID-19 patients who are continuing to arrive.

Conditions at the Chasbullah Abdulmadjid Hospital in Bekasi, West Java, are no different. They are increasingly struggling to provide treatment to the COVID-19 patients who are continuing to arrive. Some people have been forced to find their own oxygen to help family members lying helpless in the emergency tent outside the COVID-19 referral hospital. “I was asked by officers to find oxygen myself. They said the hospital no longer had oxygen," said Achmad Mulyono, 50, a family member of a patient, when met not far from Chasbullah Abdulmadjid Hospital on Tuesday.

The director of the Bekasi District Hospital, Sumarti, said all beds for COVID-19 patients were fully occupied, even though the hospital have been functioning as an emergency room and emergency tent.

Meanwhile, the Bekasi District Hospital is temporarily deploying its emergency services for COVID-19 patients. The director of the Bekasi District Hospital, Sumarti, said all beds for COVID-19 patients were fully occupied, even though the hospital have been functioning as an emergency room and emergency tent. "Many mothers who give birth are also positive for COVID-19," she said.

KOMPAS/ABDULLAH FIKRI ASHRI

Patients queue at Gunung Jati Hospital in Cirebon City, West Java, Monday (27/1/2020). Gunung Jati Hospital is preparing an isolation room and a special team to treat patients infected with the new type of corona virus.

The initiator of the LaporCOVID-19 platform, Irma Hidayana, said the virus situation in Jakarta, Bogor, Depok and Bekasi had entered a critical stage. Many COVID-19 patients complained of the difficulties of getting health services in the Greater Jakarta area. Some patients even died on their way to the hospital or while still at home. There were also people who had difficulty getting transportation to take bodies to a public cemetery.

This condition shows that the spread of COVID-19 has become so severe that patients’ families and village officials seem to have run out of destinations to save COVID-19 patients. Don\'t let them lose hope.

(This article was translated by Kurniawan Siswoko).