Guantánamo.- Doctors and staff in the Intensive Care Unit of the Dr. Agostinho Neto General Teaching Hospital in Guantánamo continue making great efforts in the face of shortages of medicines and medical equipment, exacerbated by the tightening of the U.S. economic, financial, and commercial blockade, as well as the fuel blockade, against Cuba.
Luis Enrique Álvarez Durruty, a First-Degree Specialist in Intensive and Emergency Medicine and head of the Emergency, Urgent, and Critical Care Center, stated that due to the current situation facing the country, the shortage of medicines, supplies, and medical equipment in the unit is worsening.
He explained that they have low coverage of antibiotics, loop diuretics, and essential medications for the most frequent pathologies in critical care, such as cardiology, neurology, and nephrology.
Limitations with CT scanners, reagents, and disposable materials such as gloves, dressings, and suction catheters are also present, but the oxygen supply is guaranteed, he added.
If the blockade didn’t exist, Álvarez Durruty stated, they wouldn’t face these obstacles and could provide better patient care, but they continue to prioritize patient care as a priority for the entire team and strive to achieve better health indicators.
Max Santiago Bordelois Abdo, a specialist in Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine, consulting professor, and head of the intensive care unit, pointed out that medicine is a highly professional and sensitive science, and that in the face of so many shortages, more talent, teamwork, study, and preparation are needed to care each patient.
He noted that given the current situation, battery-powered equipment is being used, electricity is being conserved in departments and offices, wards are being prioritized, and vital equipment such as ventilators and airway management is being prioritized.
The service is maintaining its work schedule adapted to the energy circumstances, continuing its teaching, administrative, and clinical activities, where 15 doctors work with the purpose of saving lives, he indicated.
