Hawaii emergency stockpile ventilators now in use as more emergency nurses are on the way

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – COVID-related hospitalizations in Hawaii hit a new all-time high on Wednesday with 413 patients admitted to facilities across the state. Records show that 87% are not vaccinated.

All of the extra stress on Hawaii’s health care system has limited resources.

“Some individual facilities lack their ventilation capabilities,” said Hilton Raethel, head of the Healthcare Association of Hawaii. He added that while there are still many ventilators in the state, emergency ventilator back-up supplies are now in use.

Raethel confirmed that Kuakini Medical Center received four additional ventilators from Hawaii’s health care emergency management stock on Tuesday.

He added that ventilators are also mixed between hospitals.

Overall, facilities are currently managing the influx of patients.

“Usually on Mondays and Tuesdays we see landfills. But then the numbers start to rise again towards the end of the week, ”said Lt. Gov. Josh Green.

Raethel added, “Fortunately, stress is currently balanced across the systems. So we don’t have a single hospital that’s totally saturated.

He says it’s in part thanks to about 250 nurses and respiratory therapists from the mainland who have arrived in Hawaii in the past week and a half. Their mission is to support frontline caregivers in Hawaii who have worked double shifts and worked overtime over the past month.

This weekend, another 300 healthcare workers from the continent are expected to arrive to build their capacity.

“We expect even more COVID hospitalizations,” Raethel said. “We don’t think we’ve reached our peak.

Reinforcements from the mainland will spend the next eight weeks in Hawaii, deployed to state hospitals.

During this time, the number of vaccinations increases.

Officials say that last week an average of 5,100 shots were administered per day. This is almost 40% more than the previous week.

Copyright 2021 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.