Fatal staff shortage

Waiting four hours for emergency surgery: Salzburg resident dead

(Bild: Markus Tschepp)

Our hospitals are being cut to the bone, as the next case shows. At the end of March, a man from Salzburg (79) waited for hours for an emergency operation after an aortic tear because there was a lack of hospital staff. He died four hours later in Linz just outside the operating theater. The relatives' lawyer criticizes and calls for a "system change".

The "Krone" uncovered the case of a woman from Mühlviertel (55) who had waited in vain for an operation after an aortic tear - and died. A very similar case had already occurred this year at the Salzburg State Hospitals (SALK) - with fatal consequences.

On March 27, a man from Salzburg (79) felt pain in his chest and called the ambulance. He was at the university hospital at 3.30 pm. It quickly became clear that it was an aortic tear (aortic dissection). Therefore, an immediate operation was necessary - a race against time.

At 3.30 p.m. in the clinic, at 7.30 p.m. in the helicopter
The problem: the only SALK emergency team on duty at the time was busy with another emergency. As in the case of the woman from Mühlviertel, the Salzburg hospital tried to have the patient treated in another specialized hospital, for example at the Kepler University Hospital in Linz. At 6.30 p.m., three hours after arriving at the hospital, the patient was still at Salzburg University Hospital, still waiting for emergency surgery. And suffered a circulatory arrest at the time. The 79-year-old was resuscitated.

At 7.30 p.m., four hours after his arrival, the rotor blades of the rescue helicopter took off in the direction of Linz. The hospital there had promised to take over the patient - but obviously too late. The 79-year-old died shortly after landing in the airlock on the way to the operating theater. "Despite the urgent need for an operation, the patient was not operated on," criticizes lawyer Stefan Rieder. Relatives filed a civil lawsuit against SALK in July: they are demanding compensation for pain and suffering.

Due to cost-cutting measures, it is no longer possible to respond adequately to emergencies. It's already a game of chance. The system must change.

Rechtsanwalt Stefan Rieder vertritt die Angehörigen.

In the statement of claim, Rieder speaks of "organizational fault" on the part of the clinics owned by the state. "If SALK already has two operating theaters, then both must be usable." On that day in March, there was only one operating theater and only one emergency team available.

"It's questionable that you have to rely on other hospitals for two simultaneous emergencies," says Rieder, who is calling for a "system change": "We owe it to the people."

An emergency team is available around the clock to treat an aneurysm. If this team is busy, other centers have to be used.

Sprecher der Salzburger Landeskliniken

SALK did not wish to comment on the case of the 79-year-old. However, it is generally confirmed: "In the evening and at night, not both operating theaters can be used for emergency operations." The reason: there is only one emergency team. There are between 20 and 25 such emergencies every year, they say.