California hospitals stressed on brink of disaster by coronavirus outbreak

The surge in new coronavirus cases and hospitalizations is pushing Los Angeles County hospitals “to the brink of disaster,” a senior health official said.

“We are in the midst of a disaster,” said Cathy Chidester, director of the Los Angeles County Emergency Medical Services Agency, of the challenges hospitals face due to a lack of resources and staff. .

The amount of oxygen required for each coronavirus patient puts extreme pressure on the hospital, according to Chidester.

They are also running out of ambulances as response times to 911 calls get longer, she said.

Los Angeles County broke its record for the most coronavirus deaths reported in a single day since the start of the pandemic with 290 deaths on Thursday, according to data from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. The high number of deaths includes a backlog of vacation cases as well as an interruption in Internet service.

“As 2020 draws to a close, we are living in extreme conditions in LA County,” Dr. Barbara Ferrer, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, said at a press conference. “Without a drop in the number of new cases, our hospitals continue to be overwhelmed as more and more people are taken to hospital.”

The medical examiner’s office, which accepts the overflow of hospitals that have run out of room in their morgues, is also expected to receive assistance from the California National Guard on Monday.

About a dozen refrigerated storage units, which were secured in March as part of the county’s “mass mortality plan,” are in place on the downtown Los Angeles campus, according to office captain Emily Tauscher. from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner.

Los Angeles County Department of Health Services Director Dr Christina Ghaly described the medical facility’s situation as being on the brink of disaster.

Some of the health department’s primary care clinics have had to close or reduce their hours because county hospitals are “extremely taxed,” Ghaly said.

More than 700 nurses have been reassigned to perform functions within inpatient units, the emergency department, as well as quarantine and isolation beds provided by the health service. All types of health workers are being used and the county is asking for additional help.

U.S. Army teams with 75 medics, nurses and staff are being deployed to the state.

Although no LA County hospital has officially declared operating under “crisis care,” health officials said some hospitals in Southern California have implemented practices that would be part of the routine. crisis care, including redirecting ambulances when facilities are overwhelmed.

Ferrer warned that data trends will continue into January and hundreds of people die every week.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said people need to stay home to help with the holiday spikes.

“We are still going to live through our most difficult and darkest days,” Garcetti said. “It is so critical that we are changing our behavior. Everyone is doing something but everyone can do more.”

Problems Statewide

Doctors in Santa Clara, 45 miles south of San Francisco, are treating some critically ill patients in the emergency room because there is no room in the intensive care units.

“Often the only time we can move someone is when a Covid patient dies,” Dr Marco Randazzo told the emergency room at a press conference. “Despite these conditions, we come to work to do our part,” said Randazzo, imploring locals to sacrifice this New Years Eve “for a lifetime of other experiences to come”.

California added 27,237 coronavirus cases on Thursday and 428 deaths. More than 2.2 million Californians have been infected to date, and well over 25,000 of them have died.

“What we are seeing now is not normal,” said Dr. Ahmad Kamal of Santa Clara Valley Medical Center. “We are clearly not out of the woods, we are in the thick of the wood.”