Welcome tent for dengue patients opened in Vicente Pires

The residents of Vicente Pires now have another boost in the fight against dengue. This Wednesday (24), the Government of the Federal District (GDF) inaugurated, in the administrative region, the 7th tent to welcome patients suspected of having the disease. The structure was set up in the parking lot of the city’s Emergency Care Unit (UPA) and will operate from 7am to 7pm, serving both adult and pediatric patients.

The reception tents guarantee professionals and infrastructure for faster care for patients who show symptoms of dengue | Photos: Paulo H. Carvalho/Agência Brasília

The Vicente Pires installation is part of the 11 structures that are being made available to the population of the DF throughout this month. All have space for patient screening, offices, pharmacy and hydration room. In the coming days, the remaining four tents will be delivered, in Samambaia, Plano Piloto, Varjão and Areal.

To date, the tents already opened – Guará, Gama, Paranoá, Planaltina, Ceilândia and Taguatinga – have guaranteed service to 7.5 thousand people. The first three are open 24 hours a day and were the first to be delivered by the government.

The DF Health Department (SES-DF) intends to extend the opening hours of other units. “We are expanding, possibly until Friday (26), so that the Planaltina tent also starts to operate 24 hours a day”, said the Deputy Secretary of Health Management, Nelma Louzeiro.

The secretary recalls that, like the other units, Vicente Pires’ tent is also strategically positioned close to hospitals, emergency care units (UPAs) and basic health units (UBSs).

“With this structure, we can respond quickly to dengue cases. We have both adult and pediatric care here”, says the medical director of the tents, Clauber Lourenço

“She is alongside the UPA of Vicente Pires to provide this support to the population. Here we even have a red room so that, if the patient arrives in a slightly more aggravated state, they can be stabilized here and, if necessary, be transferred later,” he explains. “It is important to say that we have had a minimum of transfers in cases because the resolution of the tent has been corresponding”, he continues.

Agility in service

The Primary Health Care coordinator, Sandra França, states that the units arrive to guarantee faster care for patients symptomatic of the disease and, consequently, reducing the pressure on the Unified Health System (SUS).

“It was very quick, I thought it would take longer, but I’m already waiting for the test results,” said caretaker Carlos Augusto, who went to the tent accompanied by his wife, Vaneide da Silva

“The tents come with this tone so that we can assist our community that needs care, and to provide conditions for other health equipment to assist other demands, to provide conditions for us to provide prenatal care, provide care pregnant women, hypertensive patients, diabetics and other pathologies”, explains the employee.

With three doctors per shift, the expectation is that the Vicente Pires tent will provide 150 treatments per day. The space has screening, offices, pharmacies, a red and hydration room, as well as a rest area for employees. “With this structure, we can respond quickly to dengue cases. We have both adult and pediatric care here too”, emphasizes the medical director of the tents, Clauber Lourenço.

One of the first people treated at the unit was caretaker Carlos Augusto, 41 years old. He was surprised by the speed of the service: “It was very quick, I thought it would take longer, but I’m already waiting for the test results”, says the resident of Águas Claras.

Nanny Vaneide da Silva, 43, also praises the quality of the service. “The service here is good, organized, great. I loved it, it was very quick, within 10 minutes I had already been attended to”, she reports.