According to the Los Angeles Times on the 4th, the situation of Los Angeles County Hospital in the United States is very critical.
Ambulance personnel are advised to save oxygen and not have to transport patients with little chance of survival to the hospital. Officials said they need to focus on patients with higher survival opportunities.
The report said that the situation is expected to get worse in the coming weeks, when patients who get sick during Christmas will need treatment, which makes health officials eager to find ways to increase hospital capacity and diversion to focus on treating the most serious patients.
“Many hospitals have reached a critical moment and have had to make very difficult decisions about patient care,” said Los Angeles County Health Services Director Christine Galli.
“The number of visits at our hospital represents the number of confirmed cases that result from the Thanksgiving holiday,” she said at a press conference on Monday. We believe that there have been no cases of Christmas break out.
Unfortunately, this and the (pending surge) cases of the recent New Year holiday are still in front of us, and hospitals across the region are doing everything they can to prepare.”
On Monday local time, the Los Angeles County Emergency Medical Service issued a directive requiring ambulance personnel to supply oxygen to only patients with oxygen saturation of less than 90% to save oxygen.
In order to reduce the demand for hospitals, the agency also instructed ambulance workers not to transport most patients with little chance of survival to hospitals.
According to the report, before the outbreak of the epidemic, local hospitals had enough resources to accept patients, and those who had little chance of survival, even the least likely to survive, would be transported to the hospital.
Patients who did not need to be taken to the hospital included those whose heart had stopped beating and were declared dead at the scene despite efforts but without signs of breathing, pulse or blood pressure.
Paramedics and emergency personnel will continue to try rescue at the scene until the pulse recovers and the patient’s condition stabilizes before sending them to the hospital.
“Officials are still concerned that the number of outbreaks that have reached an all-time high will continue to surge this weekend or early next week,” said Barbara Ferrell, the Los Angeles County Public Health Administrator, “While case reports may decrease in the coming days, but that’s because of the low number of people tested for the virus during the holiday season.
It’s hard to imagine that we’re likely going through the worst situation since the whole pandemic in January.”
