SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, September 1 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The professionals from the Primary Care Emergency services of Candelaria, Güímar, Tacoronte, La Victoria, Los Realejos and La Orotava attended a total of 2,685 emergencies in the first weekend of the Tenerife forest fire, 14.11 percent more compared to the previous weekend.
The data were made public this Friday by the Ministry of Health of the Government of the Canary Islands on the occasion of a meeting held by the Minister of Health, Esther Monzón, the director of the Canarian Health Service (SCS), Carlos Díaz, and the manager of Primary Care of the Tenerife Health Area, Jesús Delgado, with professionals from the health centers in the areas affected by the forest fire to learn first-hand how health care was adapted in those localities.
Thus, professionals from the health centers of Güímar, Candelaria, Tacoronte, La Victoria de Acentejo, Santa Úrsula, La Orotava-San Antonio, La Orotava-Dehesa, La Matanza de Acentejo and Los Realejos participated in the meeting, to whom Monzón and Díaz conveyed their gratitude and recognition for the work carried out during the fire, “always ensuring with dedication and professionalism to guarantee assistance to people who had to leave their homes due to the proximity of the fire.”
Members of the management team of the island’s Primary Care Management also participated in the meeting, held in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, who were in charge of organizing and deploying this device, as well as coordinating with other Basic Health Zones on the island. the necessary actions to maintain assistance to the resident population in the areas affected by the fire.
PERSONNEL REINFORCEMENT
During the first days of the fire, the Primary Care Management of Tenerife reinforced the workforce with 29 professionals, of which ten were family doctors and nineteen nurses, who were joined by professionals from the Home Assessment service (VAD). ) who provided assistance in the shelters and pavilions where the evacuees stayed in La Victoria, Santa Úrsula and La Matanza.
These workers reinforced the activity of the Normal Emergency Services and Continuing Care Points of the affected Basic Health Zones, whose staff is usually made up of 56 Family Medicine professionals and 56 Nursing professionals, according to a note from the Ministry.
AFFECTED POPULATION
The population affected by the fire assigned to Primary Care health centers amounted to 233,818 individual health cards, corresponding to people residing in the municipalities of Arico, Candelaria, Guímar, La Matanza de Acentejo, Los Realejos, La Victoria de Acentejo, La Orotava , Santa Úrsula, Tacoronte and El Rosario.
The healthcare activity from Monday to Friday between August 16 and 25 in the aforementioned Basic Health Zones affected by the fire reached 30,594 family medicine consultations and 4,621 pediatric consultations.
Furthermore, during the first days of the forest fire, the Primary Care Management of Tenerife carried out a reinforcement of the supply of material and medication necessary to care for respiratory conditions in the sensitive population in the health centers of the municipalities affected by the forest fire. Forest fire.
Specifically, teams of reinforcement health professionals were activated in the health centers of Los Realejos, La Orotava, Tacoronte and the Basic Health Zone of Santa Úrsula, La Matanza and La Victoria de Acentejo to meet the demand for care in these areas.
Thus, triple teams of Medicine and Nursing were launched in the Normal Emergency Services (SNU) of the health centers of Los Realejos and La Orotava and the Continuing Care points of Tacoronte and La Orotava were reinforced with medicine and nursing equipment. the Basic Health Zone of Santa Úrsula, La Matanza and La Victoria de Acentejo, the latter at night.
Support teams were also deployed to assess the evicted people who had to stay in sports halls and nursing homes.
To do this, the Acentejo region had the Home Assessment (VAD) reinforcement team staff, made up of two nurses in the vehicle and doctors in the coordination room, and a social worker in the Los Realejos area. .
MATERIAL SUPPLY
A reinforcement of the supply of necessary materials and medication was also launched in the health centers of all the affected municipalities in the north and south of the island. Likewise, the central material warehouse was active for the provision of medication and the availability of oxygen in case its use was necessary in the health centers of the affected municipalities.
As a consequence of the evacuation of the areas, the Management proceeded to promptly close the peripheral clinics of Ravelo, Chamiana, La Corujera and Palo Blanco, with the health teams being transferred to other reference centers to attend to the scheduled activity with their patients.
In the case of the Ravelo peripheral clinic, the two family care units (UAF) were moved to the San Juan de los Perales centers, in Tacoronte, and the El Sauzal health center, respectively.
The health personnel from the peripheral clinic of Chamiana, in La Matanza, and La Corujera, in Santa Úrsula, were transferred to the reference health centers of both locations, where they attended to the activity that was scheduled.
In addition, the health teams from the Palo Blanco Peripheral Clinic, in Los Realejos, joined the town’s Health Center and joined the initial clinical assessments in the pavilions and centers set up for people evicted from that area.
