For us NHS paramedics, the rise in calls to Covid cases is ominously familiar | Jack Jones

Ambulances are an informal frontline in healthcare – and the number of people I see unvaccinated worries me

As the sun comes up on Monday 19 July, the day England’s Covid-19 restrictions ended, my crewmate and I find ourselves assessing a patient with a new cough to see if he needs to be taken to hospital for further care. We check his observations, listen to his chest, assess the effect that walking has on his breathing and consider the safety net of family care he has around him. After three weekend night shifts, it has become clear to me that calls to Covid patients, both confirmed and suspected, are firmly back in the emergency ambulance repertoire. The break was nice while it lasted.

We’ve dealt with mental health problems, addictions, the new phenomenon of long Covid and domestic tensions

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/3izfIka