© Raphaëlle Dickes - rtl.lu
After 28 months of construction, the 300m2 emergency department extension will open at the end of October in Ettelbruck, allowing for better care of emergency patients.
The new extension at the Centre Hospitalier du Nord (CHdN) will enable better access for ambulances, with up to four vehicles able to drop off patients simultaneously. General director Dr Paul Wirtgen said the garage could be converted into an emergency triage or treatment room in the event of a disaster resulting in lots of patients.
The new extension also has a double resuscitation room which allows two patients to be treated at the same time. Just a few steps away is a room containing an emergency scanner, to relieve pressure on the hospital's other scanning machines. Anne, a nurse at the emergency department, explained this would no longer cause normal scans to be interrupted in the event of an emergency patient.
11 short-term observation rooms
Previously the CHdN had just four observation rooms for patients. With the opening of the new extension, it will have 11 rooms with the latest technology, to make it easier to treat patients quickly. Dr Wirtgen said: "We'll have more space for patients who need to be observed for a few hours, for those who have more serious issues, or for those receiving some kind of treatment. The goal isn't just to handle things faster, it's to improve treatment overall."
The hospital will also recruit more staff, allocated by the National Health Fund. Seven full-time roles for nurses have already been filled, but the search for new doctors has not yet been concluded.
In the event of a pandemic, the new extension will be able to function separately from the rest of the hospital thanks to a new ventilation system. This means infected patients could be treated here without posing a risk to other patients in the old section of the hospital.
The ChdN is not intending to advertise its new emergency department, as it is solely for people requiring urgent treatment, the director said.
