TORONTO (Reuters) – Doctors in the Canadian province of Ontario will soon have to decide who can and cannot receive treatment in intensive care, as the number of coronavirus infections sets records and patients are packed in hospitals still stretched since of the December wave.
Canada’s most populous province cancels elective surgeries, admits adults to a major children’s hospital and prepares field hospitals after the number of COVID-19 patients in the ICU jumped 31% to 612 the week before Sunday. according to data from the Ontario Hospital. Association.
The sharp increase in hospital admissions to Ontario is also stressing supplies of tocilizumab, a drug often given to people with COVID-19.
Hospital care is publicly funded in Canada, usually free of charge at the resident care point. But new hospital beds have not kept pace with population growth and there is often a shortage of staff and space during flu seasons.
Ontario hospitals performed well during the first wave of the pandemic last year, in part because the province quickly canceled elective surgeries.
The Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons told doctors Thursday that the province was considering “enacting the critical care classification protocol,” which was not done during previous waves of the virus. Triage protocols help doctors decide who to treat in a crisis.
“Everyone is under extreme stress,” said Eddy Fan, an ICU physician at the University of Toronto health network. He said no doctor wants to contemplate a triage protocol, but there is only so much staff.
“There will be a breaking point, a point where we will no longer be able to fill those gaps.”
In a statement, the health ministry said Ontario has not activated the protocol. A September draft suggested that doctors could retain the life-sustaining care of patients with less than a 20% chance of surviving for 12 months. No final version has been released.
The Ontario Scientific Advisory Board had been anticipating the increase for months, said Laveena Munshi, a member and critical care physician. During a recent change, he wanted to call a patient’s son only to find out he was in a street ICU.
“The horror stories we see in the hospital are like those from apocalyptic movies,” he said. “They’re not supposed to be the reality we’re seeing a year in a pandemic.”