Exhausted medics face own health problems amid ever-increasing workload
An exhausted emergency officer takes off his mask during a short break in Daejeon, Sunday. Courtesy of Daegu Fire Department
A tired health worker dozes on the bench at Keimyung University Dongsan Medical Center in Daegu. / Yonhap
The surge in novel coronavirus cases in Korea here is causing serious fatigue among medical personnel, with manpower shortages becoming an issue in some hard-hit areas.
Fatigue among medical staff has been most acute at hospitals designated to handle coronavirus patients only. The large number of patients in Daegu, 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul, and the surrounding North Gyeongsang Province ― the epicenters of the virus outbreak here ― has exacerbated the problem.
Since the outbreak was first reported on Jan. 20, the number of infected patients had surged to 3,736 as of late Sunday, with the death toll here at 24. Of the total, more than 2,700 cases have been confirmed in Daegu alone, with 555 cases in North Gyeongsang.
Pohang Medical Center said over the weekend that 16 of its 100 nurses had quit due to various personal reasons compounded by overwork.
A medical staff member at Keimyung University Dongsan Medical Center in Daegu, Sunday, has marks on her face from wearing a mask. Korea Times
A medical staff member wears a gown soaked in sweat at Keimyung University Dongsan Medical Center in Daegu, Sunday. Korea Times
The medical center, in the industrial city of Pohang, 375 kilometers southeast of Seoul, said some nurses had been unable to go home for more than 10 days, because clinic staff at specially designated hospitals must stay at their posts until the situation improves. A local public health official said some nurses with one to look after their young children had no choice but to resign.
While the medical center did get 15 replacement nurses, and Pohang city government promised to send 10 medical personnel and administrative support workers, it is expecting further manpower problems as the COVID-19 continues to spread.
The need for more medical personnel was also reported at Keimyung University Dongsan Medical Center in Daegu, where the hospital said it was seriously understaffed, with doctors and nurses suffering from severe fatigue.
"In particular, the center needs more nurses, because it is planning to increase the number of beds from 240 to 300 to handle more patients," a hospital spokesperson said.
Authorities are trying to deal with the problem by sending more state-employed doctors and other trained health workers to Daegu and North Gyeongsang. (Yonhap).