Four red codes at Santissima Trinità. The same number at Brotzu. Three at the Policlinico. And again: nine orange codes at the first hospital, 14 at the second, and the same number at Monserrato . Some are visiting, others are waiting. And this is just the most serious cases, certified by the monitors around 1:30 PM.
Result: today is another nightmare day in Cagliari's emergency rooms, with suffering patients forced to wait for hours and ambulances stuck in yards, diverted from the roads and from providing emergency services in the area.
While awaiting decisions on the reopening of the Marino Hospital, a decision doctors have called for and politicians have not disdained —an option that is, however, a long way off if declarations of intent translate into practice—the Sardinian capital's emergency care system continues to struggle .
"So the problem wasn't the summer influx," says an operator, sounding as if he'd never believed the theory of difficulties related to the presence of tourists. "Until India gets involved, nothing will be solved here."
Many patients who end up in the emergency room, he adds, "shouldn't even be there. The system has broken down. And not just today."
Enrico Fresu
