Two weeks after the devastating floods in Rhineland-Palatinate, the focus is on medical care. The medical association sees the situation as critical. However, the assessment of the situation on site is controversial.
Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler – Medical officers have criticized significant shortcomings in basic medical care in the flood areas.
The situation is “still frightening” and there is a risk of epidemics in the affected regions, said the chairwoman of the Federal Association of Doctors of the Public Health Service, Ute Teichert, the newspapers of the Funke media group.
There is no evidence of such a risk, said the President of the State Medical Association, Günther Matheis, on Thursday, not even from the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians. Of course, medical practices are closed, but emergency services have been set up by pharmacies, for example, and mobile medical practices are in use to ensure that people are supplied with care.
The health of the population in the disaster areas was “massively threatened because the infrastructure is not working,” Teichert criticized. Among other things, hospitals and practices were destroyed in some places.
Teichert, who headed the health department in the flood-affected district of Ahrweiler until 2012, explained that many people would have to get by without urgently needed medication. This is a big problem, especially for people with diseases such as diabetes or heart disease, the newspaper report said. Now it is important to organize mobile medical units and bring them to the towns.
This is exactly what the German Red Cross is taking care of. A risk of epidemics should be avoided, said DRK spokeswoman Marion Müller. A vaccination center is available in Ahrweiler, where those affected and helpers can easily secure themselves with a single vaccination from Johnson & Johnson.
According to the crisis team, pollution currently poses a threat to the population. It is about the contamination of water and sludge by fuels, faeces and chemicals: “People must continue to behave very carefully when handling sludge and other things,” said the head of the crisis team, Thomas Linnertz, in Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler. “Of course, substances have also leaked from storage facilities.” He cited pesticides as an example.
He therefore urged people to wear gloves and protective clothing and wash their hands. In addition, the soil will be examined. “This will probably have to be dealt with for a long time,” he said.
During the clean-up work it quickly happens that small injuries occur, said DRK spokeswoman Müller. After contact with the contaminated mud, bacteria could enter these wounds and cause tetanus. This is one of the reasons why three mobile medical practices have been set up in the flood area. “Minor surgical interventions, EKGs and ultrasound can be performed in the containers,” said Müller. There are also medicines or prescriptions there. In Ahrweiler, a pharmacy was open around the clock.
In addition, water extraction points, mobile showers and washing containers for washing and drying laundry should improve the hygienic situation and reduce the risk of infection. Ambulances of the Red Cross and other organizations are distributed throughout the area to ensure emergency care.
In an internal report by the riot police department of the federal police, from which “Bild” quoted on Thursday, it is said that the supply of the population is assessed as “problematic” by the emergency services in Rhineland-Palatinate. Many of those affected are severely traumatized, and acceptance of the emergency services is “steadily decreasing”.
This has not only to do with the fact that the supply of drinking water and electricity in the disaster areas of North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate is partially not yet fully guaranteed, said the chairman of the police union (GdP) for the federal police, Andreas Roßkopf , the German Press Agency. The police are also angry when they have to prevent people who want to save their belongings from entering their homes that are in danger of collapsing.
The flood of July 14th hit the Ahr valley particularly badly. Most recently, 134 deaths were counted. 69 people were missing. The number of injuries after the heavy rain and the resulting flash floods was last given as 766. dpa
