Sunshine Coast University Hospital staff go into quarantine after saving COVID-positive patient's life
By Jim MaloSunshine Coast hospital workers have been praised after exposing themselves to COVID-19 to save the life of a patient.
Key points:
- The patient went into anaphylactic shock after being treated with dye for a scan
- A number of healthcare workers had no time to don PPE and are now undergoing quarantine
- Their actions have been described as "life-saving"
The patient was being moved from the COVID ward to the medical unit when they went into anaphylactic shock due to an adverse reaction to contrast dye used for a scan.
Ten staff were involved in the incident, however it is not known how many did not have time to don personal protective equipment (PPE).
Queensland Health said all have been deemed casual or primary contacts and have been placed into quarantine.
Sunshine Coast Hospital acting chief executive Andrew McDonald thanked the staff for their actions.
"Our staff put their lives at risk to provide life-saving treatment to this patient who is thankfully now in a stable condition in the ward," he said in a statement.
Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said the staff "absolutely" followed the right process.
"These staff put themselves in harm's way to help a patient in need. They put the patient's welfare before their own," Dr Young said.
"Staff were required to act quickly and may not have been able to maintain full infection control while attending to the emergency."
Mr McDonald said the incident did not pose any health risk to anyone but the isolating workers.
"All areas involved in the incident have been COVID cleaned. There is no risk to other patients or staff or to the community," he said.
Queensland Health could not say if the staff were vaccinated.
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