Inquiry and Reflection: The Death of a Nurse

“As long as people with asthma receive prompt medical attention, they will not die from asthma.”

Writing | Tian Dongliang

Source | “Medical Community” Official Account

“In the future, fighting the epidemic and maintaining normal life should be placed in the same important position as dynamic clearing.” Zhang Wenhong, director of the Department of Infectious Diseases, Huashan Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University, in the early morning yesterday (March 24). wrote in a long article published on Weibo.

The situation of “inadequate living care in the sealed-off area, excessively-long sealed-off time, and difficulty in seeing a doctor due to repeated block-and-control in the hospital”. These problems all exist and should not be avoided. In the future fight against the epidemic, we must solve them one by one. Otherwise, the significance of the successful fight against the epidemic will be greatly reduced.

But some people will be able to wait until these issues are resolved, and some will never. Zhou Shengni is one of those who can’t wait.

According to the “Fact Sheet” issued by the Oriental Hospital, Zhou Shengni, a nurse at the Oriental Hospital, suffered an asthma attack at home on March 23, which could not be relieved after taking medication. At about 19:00, her family members drove her to see a doctor. Due to the need for epidemic prevention and control, the emergency department of the South Hospital of Eastern Hospital was temporarily closed for environmental sampling and disinfection. The family members sent her to the East Hospital of Renji Hospital for treatment. At about 23 o’clock, Zhou Shengni died due to ineffective rescue.

A brief “fact sheet” cannot fully answer the public’s doubts about Nurse Zhou’s death. How was Nurse Zhou when he was sent to the hospital? Why do family members drive to the hospital instead of calling an ambulance? The emergency department of the hospital is temporarily closed. Are other departments in the hospital qualified for treatment? Before transferring to hospital, was there any assessment to see if Nurse Zhou was eligible for transfer? How was Nurse Zhou when she was sent to the East Hospital of Renji Hospital? What kind of rescue process did you go through…

Asthma is a common chronic disease, and Nurse Zhou is also a medical staff, so this tragedy should not have happened.

Professor Liu Youning, a well-known pulmonologist and editor-in-chief of “Chinese Journal of Tuberculosis and Respiratory Medicine”, told the “medical community” that severe asthma attacks can cause extensive airway occlusion and respiratory failure, similar to suffocation , can cause death. Teresa Teng may have died in this situation. At this time, conventional inhaled drugs will not work. If the trachea can be intubated in time, even simple artificial ventilation will not cause death.

“Asthma patients will not die from asthma as long as they receive timely medical treatment, such as intubation of air bags in ambulances,” said Prof. Liu Youning.

In response to Nurse Zhou’s death, Dr. Zhang Qiang, founder of Dr. Zhang Qiang Group, wrote: “This medical colleague was not killed by the virus, but by some rigid, indifferent, and rude people.” Regulations “to kill.

Zhang Qiang then released a short video, in which he said: “Originally, medical staff were treating others in the hospital, but they were sick, but they were so sick that they could not see the disease. Sadly, in this very special time, for whatever reason, the event itself deserves our reflection.”

At a press conference held by the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council on March 19, Director Jiao Yahui of the Medical Administration and Medical Administration Bureau of the National Health and Medical Commission stated how to ensure the medical needs of the people in the areas where the epidemic occurred. “We have repeatedly emphasized that medical institutions must strictly implement the first-diagnosis responsibility system and the emergency and critically ill rescue system, and must not use any reason, especially whether there is a nucleic acid test result, as a reason for shirk refusal or delay in treatment.”

Anything that is emphasized over and over again is not good enough. Therefore, since the outbreak of the new crown epidemic for more than two years, from time to time, it is possible to see the situation that normal medical treatment is not possible due to the epidemic control.

“The new crown epidemic will be a long-term process. We can’t hold the mentality that we will kill the virus if we can’t do it. We must not only control the epidemic, but also protect the lives of residents and maintain medical treatment. The passage is unblocked, and at the same time, the survival of private small and micro enterprises is guaranteed.” Zhang Wenhong wrote, “The fight against the epidemic is not over yet, but life must continue.”

Well written.

Source: Medicine

Editor in charge: Zheng Huaju

Proofreading: Zang Hengjia

Plate making: Xue Jiao