Emergency room in Pirna overloaded: patients urgently needed in the shock room!

Emergency room in Pirna overloaded: patients urgently needed in the shock room!

The emergency department at Helios Klinikum Pirna has recently seen an increase in the number of patients. The situation is made even more difficult by a shortage of specialists, which can lead to shortages and longer waiting times. Current examples from the emergency room impressively illustrate these challenges: Among the new arrivals is the 44-year-old fitter Marc from the Moselle region, who, due to his work in Saxony, regularly comes into contact with pharmacy machines for dispensing medication. Today, November 9, 2025, he is not the only patient in the central emergency room, where several cases have already occurred.

The patients treated include an 84-year-old with a bruise, a 73-year-old who complains of vertigo, a 43-year-old with a burn on his forearm and a student who injured himself while high jumping. These cases show the variety of injuries and illnesses that end up in the emergency room.

Insulting patients in the shock room

Treatment uses a structured system through the Manchester Triage System, which categorizes patients based on urgency. The 61-year-old with high blood pressure who is being treated in the shock room is classified as “red” and receives the most urgent medical help. Additional cases are classified as orange and yellow, while green and blue cases are less urgent. The uncertainty about the 61-year-old's health shows the critical situation in which the emergency room often finds itself.

In this facility, the speed of treatment is strongly related to the severity of the illness. The trained nursing staff is trained to competently assess the symptoms. However, given the high occupancy rates, patients also have to plan for longer waiting times, as medical care is not provided based on arrival time, but based on the urgency of the case. Although “last minute visits” are popular, they do not result in faster treatment.

Reforms in emergency care necessary

Emergency rooms in Germany have been the focus of health policy reforms for a long time. A look at the billing data shows that the number of cases in emergency rooms has been stagnating since 2016, while outpatient emergency treatment via hospitals has been declining. Older patients in particular (over 70 years of age) are increasingly visiting emergency rooms. A clear separation between on-call practices and emergency rooms is necessary here, as many patients still go to the emergency room due to a lack of knowledge about alternatives.

The current coalition agreement raises important aspects of integrated emergency care and reiterates the need to test and evaluate existing solutions. Health care reforms must address not just the numbers, but also the causes of emergency room overload. As studies show, overloading brings with it increased risks of complications and even mortality.

In this regard, improved patient management is urgently needed. Legal requirements that have been created since 2016 as well as the establishment of on-call practices in emergency rooms are intended to help defuse the situation. However, despite these initiatives, proving their effectiveness in terms of actual case numbers remains difficult. The issue of health care therefore remains tense and is characterized by comprehensive reforms.

The current day in the emergency room at the Helios Clinic in Pirna impressively shows how important quick and competent help is - and how essential the overall societal discussion about improvements in the healthcare system is for the future. The shortage of specialists and the increasing number of patients are challenges that must be on the agenda more than ever.