LOS ALAMITOS (CBSLA) – Patients being transported to the hospital find themselves in long queues in the emergency bays after the Orange County Health Care Agency suspended ambulance diversions.
The diversion of ambulances allowed hospitals to request the transfer of emergency patients to other medical centers. With so many hospitals in Orange County due to the increase in patients with COVID-19, suspending diversions means that hospitals must accept patients regardless of their capacity.
For some hospitals, this creates long waiting times, but also prevents hospitals from having patients when they are not full.
At Los Alamitos Medical Center, a line of at least 17 ambulances with patients was spotted Wednesday in the emergency room. Sanheim, Long Beach, Orange County Fire Authority and LA County fire department paramedics waited with their patients, some of whom were in gornelles, on the sidewalk leading to the entrance to the Bay of Fire. emergencies.
Some patients received electrocardiograms and X-rays right in the bay, according to an EMT who asked not to be identified. Some hospitals do not accept patients unless they first do a rapid COVID-19 test, he said.
Orange County Emergency Medical Services (EMS) has temporarily suspended any ambulance diversion for hospitals participating in the 9-1-1 system. See Dr.’s statement. Carl Schultz, medical director of the EMS. # OCCOVID19 #StopTheSurge #SlowTheSpread #WearAMask pic.twitter.com/XkD5gmOVhy
– OC Health Care Agency (@ochealth) December 17, 2020
Dr. Carl Schultz, medical director of the EMS in Orange County, said they were forced to make the move because an overwhelming number of patients caused nearly all hospitals to divert ambulances simultaneously.
The suspension of ambulance diversion “will extend this across the county and help mitigate the growing concern of finding hospital destinations for ambulances,” he said. “As far as we know, this has never happened before.”
On Thursday, the county once again broke the hospitalization record, which has become a daily occurrence recently.
There are currently 1,519 COVID-19 patients hospitalized, including 343 in ICU beds. The adjusted capacity of the county ICU bed remains at zero.