After you arrive at hospital you will be assessed by the expert clinical team. If you are being assessed for COVID 19 you will have your heart rate and blood pressure measured and a probe put on your finger to assess your oxygen levels. It is likely you will have a chest x-ray done and you will have blood tests taken. You will have swabs taken from your throat and nose to look for the COVID-19 virus. It is likely that you will have a cannula (drip) inserted into your arm.
Your subsequent treatment will depend upon what is wrong with you and how unwell you are.
(It is possible that as a result of the assessment that it is decided that staying in hospital will not be helpful for you. More information about this is here – support available at home)
The hospital will likely be extremely busy, and staff will be working under a lot of pressure, but they are always working to do the best for patients. They will do everything in their power to help you to recover. If it becomes clear that you will not recover, hospital staff will continue to care for you, focusing on keeping you comfortable, relieving your breathlessness and anxiety, and enabling you to have some contact (even if it is via an electronic device) with the people you care about.
Photo by Martha Dominguez de Gouveia on Unsplash
