As intensive care units across California fill up with COVID-19 patients quickly, cases are expected to increase as hospitals have a limited number of tools available to release more capacity in the coming weeks. In the spring, the government even called a naval medical ship in the port of San Pedro to pick up patients who were overflowing when the so-called “uprising” hospital and medical center in Los Angeles was filled. But officials found that those additional facilities did not treat many patients and did not provide the same level of care as traditional hospitals. “Hospital ships are awesome if you are a 23-year-old injured sailor. This is not the place to take care of ICU patients with COVID-19. ” Said Dr. George Rutherford, an epidemiologist and epidemiologist in San Francisco. “If they want to be in the ICU, they have to be in the ICU.” Therefore, L.A. In the coming weeks in the county, hospitals will be trying to get their staff to dance to meet the needs of poor staff, some of whom may still be sent to other parts of the hospital that are not usually treated for ICU cases. But it comes with risks. If the shortage of staff becomes particularly acute, ill patients can receive care from nurses and physicians without renewed specialized intensive care training. “Bed beds are not a limiting factor in this, or other, infectious disease,” said Dr. Christina Galli, director of Los Angeles County Health Services. “What matters is the practical ability to care for patients in the hospital. It needs not just a bed, but most importantly people: it needs staff. It needs materials and equipment.” Rutherford was blunt: Death may be astronomical. ”ICU beds are still available, even in hard-to-reach places such as Los Angeles County. , A previous one-day record increase of 22,369 cases on Friday, with more than 20,000 total COVID-19 deaths now being recorded in California, a milestone recorded by the Times Corona virus tracker on Monday.Westide, San Gabriel Valley ICU capacity has been tightened in several locations around Los Angeles County, including Attack and Southeastern LA County. Of the staff and licensed beds, eight ICU beds were found in Westide on Sunday; There were seven in southeastern LA County, and only three in San Gabriel Valley. According to data released Monday, LA County has admitted more than 3,000 COVID-19 hospitals on Sunday, and officials say that number could rise to 4,000 within the next week as more people affected by the Thanksgiving holidays fall ill. The number of licensed, operating beds, but the extent of expansion is limited when ICUs may need to be raised. Hospitals can now hire staff from other parts of the health care system, such as workers working in health centers and other outpatient settings or other procedures. This reduces outpatient services, “but it can be important to add bed capacity when it is most needed,” Galle said. Galle said hospitals could also do work to cancel planned procedures and evacuate patients who could be cared for in lower-level settings. These steps come with consequences. Delaying scheduled care for other procedures may come at the expense of health care for other patients requiring hospital care for chronic diseases such as heart disease, which may increase mortality due to infection-related causes. Relying on hospital staff without specialized training in intensive care is not optimal, but the last resort when capacity is high. Hospitals can do whatever they can to help cancel planned surgeries that could lead to corona virus patients. But at some point, the crushing of patients will eventually lead to a mortality rate, such as overcrowding of nurses and physicians caring for worse COVID-19 patients than normal. “This is not an ideal situation, it can lead to side effects for patients,” he joked. Concerns are growing about hospital staff being overcrowded if more staff fall ill from COVID-19. Health workers have been infected with the virus at an unprecedented rate. Last week, there were 1,745 new corona virus cases among health workers in LA County, more than double the number reported earlier in the week. Ferrer said. “This has a huge impact on our ability throughout our entire health care system to care for the sick.” Other health systems have come under pressure from labor diseases or exposure to the virus. The Mayo Clinic Health System, which serves Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa, said more than 1,500 employees left last month due to a diagnosis or exposure to the virus, the Associated Press reported. The California Department of Public Health has a 10.9% ICU capacity in Southern California on Monday, and the San Joaquin Valley 6.3%. In the earlier waves of the epidemic, other parts of California were able to help other difficult places – San Francisco and San Diego County, for example, accepted COVID-19 patients from the severely affected Imperial County on the Mexican border. That is not possible now because the Bay Area is already in the grip of an unprecedented uprising. “If we do not take this collectively seriously, we will not be able to do that in other areas. The number of ICU beds filled with 19 patients has tripled in the past month, and Silicon Valley House has only 15% of its ICU beds. “Unfortunately, we are breaking records every day,” said Dr. Santa Clara County Health Officer. Sarah Cody said: “Our hospitals have chosen to cancel many of the existing surgeries and other procedures in order to maintain the attendance of COVID patients.” they. “But, especially with critical care patients, there are additional challenges in moving patients with severe illness,” Cody said. As infections continue to rise, the average daily death toll in LA County could rise to 63%, currently ranging from 40 deaths a day to 65 deaths a day, Ferrer said. LA County now has an average of more than 8,000 new corona virus cases per day in the past week – four times over last month. Across the state, California hospitals crossed 10,000 COVID-19 patients for the first time. This is more than double the number three weeks ago. If trends do not change, this uprising will be unlike the first two waves that have already caused thousands of deaths in Los Angeles County. Based on last week’s trends, LA County predicts that ICU beds will be reduced before Christmas – a deficit that has never occurred in the previous two waves. A physician at a LA County General Hospital, despite adequate evidence at present, expects beds and staff soon due to the recent rapid increase in the number of shortage cases. “We are at the border now and the direction it is going now has to follow the restrictions, depending on the will of the community,” the doctor said. The doctor, who was asked not to be named because of the absence of the person, was empowered to speak publicly, saying it was very difficult to deal with the summer upsurge, due to flooding of patients up and down the states. “We are all worried that this next uprising will be worse than that,” the doctor said.
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