"One incident among many," says Mario Vicentini, president of the Alba volunteer association, "we took a 102-year-old woman to the emergency room with a broken arm. Poor thing, she wasn't complaining much, just kept asking, 'Where's the doctor? Where's the doctor?' She waited in the ambulance for over six hours ." He continues: "The other day, there were fifteen ambulances lined up outside a hospital, so there were only two others available in the Cagliari metropolitan area , one in Pula and one in Burcei."
Vicentini confirms and reiterates what has been happening in recent days, from Christmas to today: "We are in a situation of operational collapse, a dramatic situation in the three city emergency rooms, at the Santissima Trinità, at the Brotzu, and at the Policlinico, due to the lack of beds, the shortage of staff, and the poor response to the primary care needs of the area . Therefore, almost everyone is flocking to Cagliari, which cannot handle the load."
An explosive situation across the island: functioning emergency rooms are overwhelmed. Even in San Gavino, long lines of stretchers line up in the wards, with waits up to 36 hours.
"We manage to deal with red and orange codes promptly," explains Arnas Brotzu General Manager Maurizio Marcias, "but the problem lies elsewhere: 60% of emergency room visits involve white and green codes, meaning patients who should be treated locally, by emergency medical services or general practitioners . And we also need to reinstate emergency care in small hospitals." That said, "the most serious problem is the lack of beds."
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