The equipment in the tent is similar to that used in the intensive care unit (ICU) at hospitals.
With four beds, six chairs and equipment for resuscitation, the MAEPS Acute Resuscitation and Isolation Area (MARIA) acts as a temporary ICU.
It is capable of accommodating 10 critical Covid-19 category four patients at any one time who need to be stabilised and require oxygen before being sent to the Sungai Buloh Hospital for further treatment.
Its clinical deputy director Dr Marzilawati Abd Rahman said that if the conditions of category 1 patients without symptoms, category 2 with mild symptoms and category 3, that is patients with pneumonia, deteriorate, they will be admitted to MARIA to be resuscitated and stabilised all within six hours before being sent to the Sungai Buloh Hospital.
“But with the number of cases at the moment being very high, there are times when we are forced to hold patients up to 12 hours before sending them to Sungai Buloh due to bed constraints there,” she told Bernama.
Marzilawati said MARIA, which was activated in January, is being manned by 40 to 45 personnel daily comprising specialist doctors, medical officers, assistant medical officers and nurses who work in two shifts.
According to Marzilawati, at the outset of its establishment, the number of category 4 patients treated at MARIA was less than 10 people.
But lately, she said, following the hike in positive cases, it received between 50 to 60 patients a day.
“It is estimated that 10% of category 3 patients would deteriorate or change to category 4 whereby they require oxygen tanks. Cases that require oxygen therapy are sent to the Sungai Buloh Hospital after being treated at MARIA.
“It is better for such cases to be provided with continuous oxygen in the hospital which can also treat patients more efficiently and effectively,” she said.
Other than stabilising those patients with breathing problems, Marzilawati said MARIA also treats patients with other ailments, such as diabetes, high blood pressure and heart problem.
“Patients may have other health problems such as diabetes which may not be under control upon admission. So, we treat the patients first for several hours (at MARIA) and admit them to the MAEPS PKRC after they have improved.”
She said 80% of patients who were treated at MARIA were those requiring oxygen or category 4 while the rest were due to medical illnesses.
She said that to accommodate the increase in patients taken to MARIA, the temporary treatment centre was connected to Hall B, which acted as a support unit to MARIA with a capacity of 60 beds.
As of May 26, MAEPS PKRC had a capacity of 5,648 beds with over 75% occupied by patients who were mostly from Kuala Lumpur and Selangor.
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