The emergency department at Hospital das Clinicas in Porto Alegre will be starting an emergency medicine residency in March. Currently other departments such as internal medicine rotate through the emergency department in addition to emergency medicine residents from Hospital de Pronto Socorro, 1 of only 2 emergency medicine residency programs in the country currently.
This is the resuscitation room where "red" patients will arrive to be evaluated and treated immediately. Emergency departments in the public hospital system in Brazil (SUS) use the Manchester system to triage patients into several color groupings from Red (severe) to Green (minor complaint) based on their acuity, similar to the ESI system used in the US.
This is room is called the "Laranja" (orange). Usually it is much more full, with just enough room to squeeze between stretchers, but as the ED closed due to flooding from the storm, the room is relatively empty. The Laranja is a mid-acuity area where patients will usually wait for days for a bed to open up on the floors upstairs. Average patient stay in the emergency department is approximately 5 days due a lack of open beds on the floor during which time the emergency physicians have to manage their care. Boarding is a serious issue throughout emergency departments in Brazil.
This hallway leads to a room called the "green room" with chairs where low acuity patients sit waiting either disposition or a bed to open up on the floors. Boarding times in the green room can be days as well.
This is the red room where the highest acuity patients stay. In this picture it is closed due to leaks/flooding from the storm.
This room is next to the red room where patients who need a higher level of care such as vasoactive medication drips and continuous monitoring are lodged while awaiting rooms upstairs. Although, not seen in this photo, to the left there are also isolation rooms here for patients with active tuberculosis (common in Brazil) amongst other infectious disease concerns. This room is also relatively empty in this picture due to the emergency department closing after damage from the storm.
Here are some of the Hospital das Clinicas attending staff who hosted us during our stay in their emergency department. A million thanks to everyone at Hospital das Clinicas for their hospitality and help during our time in Porto Alegre!!
This is the resuscitation room where "red" patients will arrive to be evaluated and treated immediately. Emergency departments in the public hospital system in Brazil (SUS) use the Manchester system to triage patients into several color groupings from Red (severe) to Green (minor complaint) based on their acuity, similar to the ESI system used in the US.
This is room is called the "Laranja" (orange). Usually it is much more full, with just enough room to squeeze between stretchers, but as the ED closed due to flooding from the storm, the room is relatively empty. The Laranja is a mid-acuity area where patients will usually wait for days for a bed to open up on the floors upstairs. Average patient stay in the emergency department is approximately 5 days due a lack of open beds on the floor during which time the emergency physicians have to manage their care. Boarding is a serious issue throughout emergency departments in Brazil.
This hallway leads to a room called the "green room" with chairs where low acuity patients sit waiting either disposition or a bed to open up on the floors. Boarding times in the green room can be days as well.
This is the red room where the highest acuity patients stay. In this picture it is closed due to leaks/flooding from the storm.
This room is next to the red room where patients who need a higher level of care such as vasoactive medication drips and continuous monitoring are lodged while awaiting rooms upstairs. Although, not seen in this photo, to the left there are also isolation rooms here for patients with active tuberculosis (common in Brazil) amongst other infectious disease concerns. This room is also relatively empty in this picture due to the emergency department closing after damage from the storm.
Here are some of the Hospital das Clinicas attending staff who hosted us during our stay in their emergency department. A million thanks to everyone at Hospital das Clinicas for their hospitality and help during our time in Porto Alegre!!
