Orange County ambulance wait times lengthen amid COVID-19 outbreak

SANTA ANA, Calif. (KABC) – Amid an increase in hospitalizations linked to COVID-19, the Orange County health care agency has warned that ambulances are waiting longer than normal to unload patients at a pace never seen since the winter wave.

County Emergency Services Medical Director Dr Carl Schultz wrote in a memo dated Wednesday that over a 24-hour period 90% of patient drop-off times took an average of 44 minutes , with “16 hospitals exceeding the 30-minute standard and five hospitals exceeding 60 minutes.

He added that a dozen hospitals “have requested the diversion of ambulances for a total of 112 diversion hours”, referring to the practice of sending ambulances to another hospital when a hospital is overloaded.

“It’s not sustainable. We haven’t seen an increase in ambulance numbers of this magnitude since the worst days of the second wave in December 2020 and January 2021,” Schultz wrote.

Schultz also said the numbers “don’t just represent an isolated episode,” but are part of a general trend over the weeks that aligns with an increase in the number of COVID-19 patients hospitalized.

“If this situation persists, it potentially endangers the health and safety of those seeking ambulance transport to the hospitals at the emergency reception center. “

Schultz called on hospital leaders to work together to reduce patient drop-off times and ambulance diversion. If the problems persist, he said he will have to seek a prescription of some type from the county public health officer. He said doing nothing “is not an option”.

“Although the request at this stage is for voluntary intervention, if these times persist at their current level or worsen, I will consider additional guidance, including the elimination of the ambulance hijacking and the request for action by the Orange County public health official, “the memo reads.

The memo can be viewed here.

Orange County reported 454 people currently hospitalized with COVID-19 on Friday, a number not seen since late February.

Between July 28 and August 5, the county saw an increase in the average seven-day case rate from 10.2 to 15.7 per 100,000 people, with the average number of daily COVID-19 cases rising from 328 to 507, OCHCA said in a statement. Release.

City News Service contributed to this report.