Overcrowded hospital morgues, 911 increased waiting times, beds only open when patients die. California hospitals, where nearly every 40 million residents in the state live under home stay orders, are experiencing historic stress points.
The rise in new coronavirus cases and hospitalizations is pushing Los Angeles County hospitals to the “limit of catastrophe,” a senior health official said.
In just over a month, Los Angeles County doubled the number of infections, from about 400,000 cases on Nov. 30 to more than 800,000 cases on Jan. 2, health officials said Monday.
The deluge of the case has resulted in an increase in Covid-19 patients, overwhelming hospitals and causing the capacity of the intensive care unit across the region to be reduced to zero. There are now more than 7,600 people hospitalized with Covid-19 in the county, 21% of whom are in the ICU, officials said.
With no hospital beds available, guidance was given to county ambulance crews for not transporting patients with little chance of survival. And patients who are transported often have to wait hours before the bed is available.
“Hospitals declare internal disasters and have to open church gyms to serve as hospital units,” said supervisor Hilda Solis, who described the situation as a “human disaster”.
And one person dies from the virus every 15 minutes, said Barbara Ferrer, Los Angeles County’s director of public health.
As hospitalizations increase, the Los Angeles County Emergency Medical Services Agency (EMS) directed ambulance crews not to transport patients with little chance of survival to hospitals and to conserve oxygen use.
Prior to the pandemic, when workers and health resources were more readily available, patients who were unlikely to recover could be taken by ambulance to the hospital for treatment.
But Los Angeles hospitals are already ready and many medical facilities do not have room to accommodate patients who have no chance of survival, the agency said. Patients whose hearts have stopped despite resuscitation efforts, the county EMS said, should no longer be transported to hospitals.
“Effective immediately, due to the strong impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on EMS and 9-1-1 receiving hospitals, adult patients (over 18 years of age) in traumatic and non-traumatic severe cardiac arrest (OHCA)) are not transportaran [if]the return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) is not achieved in the field, ”the agency said in a note issued to ambulance workers last week.
If there are no signs of breathing or dust, the EMS will continue to perform resuscitations for at least 20 minutes, according to the note. If the patient stabilizes after the resuscitation period, he or she would be transferred to a hospital. If the patient is declared dead at the scene or the pulse cannot be recovered, paramedics will no longer transport the body to the hospital.
And even after arriving at hospitals, some EMTs have to wait for hours outside, as hospitals often do not have enough beds to accommodate patients.
“We’re waiting two to four hours at least in a hospital and now we have to drive even longer … then we wait three more hours,” Jimmy Webb told CNC affiliate KCAL.
Local officials have tried to encourage citizens not to call 911 unless they “really need it,” Dr. Marc Eckstein, the commander of the Los Angeles Fire Department’s EMS office, on CNN’s subsidiary, KABC.
“I think this next four to six week period will be critical for our system to pay tribute,” Eckstein added.