The ambulance went to the wrong hospital –

Contrary to the usual routine in the region, a patient with pneumonia and severe sepsis was taken to the emergency department at Köping Hospital. He is now being reported by Region Västmanland.

The patient was treated in Köping overnight before being transferred to the hospital in Västerås and receiving care in the intensive care unit. Despite the prompt and correct treatment in Köping, the Västmanland region reported the incident according to Lex Maria, as the delay could have led to serious medical damage, as Köping Hospital lacks the capacity for intensive care and intensive monitoring.

Sepsis is a life-threatening condition that occurs when the immune system overreacts to an infection in the body. Sepsis can be described as inflammation throughout the body, affecting vital organs such as the heart, lungs and kidneys. The infection is often the result of, for example, pneumonia, a wound infection or a urinary tract infection.

Analysis of the area shows several wrongful events; partly because the ambulance crew took the patient to the wrong hospital in violation of guidelines, and partly because of a breakdown in communication between the doctors in Köping and between Köping and the intensive care unit in Västerås. Therefore, training is planned for the affected staff regarding the necessary procedures to ensure that the incident does not happen again in the future.

Regardless of this event, the Västmanland Ambulance Service has introduced a new analysis tool to ensure that patients with suspected sepsis – a condition in which the body’s response to infection damages its own tissues and organs – are transferred to the correct care facility and level of care.

In the present case, the patient was able to be discharged after a few weeks in the hospital.