Los Angeles has been facing an unprecedented hospital crisis since December due to the worsening of the COVID-19 pandemic in California.This Monday there were more than 7,600 hospitalized patients, and there were only
577 beds available
in all centers in the county, according to official information.
In the absence of beds to care for patients, including diseases other than COVID-19, ambulance personnel were instructed not to transport people who have
little chance
of survival.
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A letter from the Los Angeles Emergency Medical Services Agency establishes that personnel must carry out resuscitation efforts for 20 minutes, in the place where they are located, to patients who have suffered cardiac arrest.
But if resuscitation is unsuccessful and patients do not have a pulse, or are declared dead,
they will no longer be taken to a hospital
.
"Effective immediately, due to the severe impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on emergency medical services and 9-1-1 recipient hospitals,
adult patients
(18 and over) with traumatic and non-traumatic cardiac arrest were from the hospital will not be transported if the return of spontaneous circulation in the field is not achieved, "the agency said.
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Jan. 2, 202102: 42
Emergency medical services will only be able to provide supplemental oxygen to patients
with oxygen saturation less than 90%,
which, according to the county, is sufficient to maintain function of organs and tissues.
"Given the acute need to conserve oxygen, effective immediately, emergency medical services should only administer supplemental oxygen to patients with oxygen saturation below 90%," Los Angeles County said.
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Los Angeles County's oxygen and tank shortages forced five hospitals to declare an "internal disaster."
In addition, the
pipes that distribute oxygen
, which are already old, are being damaged due to the high pressure they need to deliver oxygen to all patients who need it, according to the Los Angeles Times.
A patient with COVID-19 needs between
60 and 80 liters of oxygen per minute
, while patients with other diseases receive only six liters.
Every eight minutes the death of a person from COVID-19 is reported in Los Angeles
Jan. 5, 202101: 55
Another problem Los Angeles faces is the shortage of ambulances and their
long response times
.
Jeffrey Smith, director of operations for Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, said emergency medical services are diverting ambulances to hospitals with the capacity to receive patients.
“Things change very fast.
There are parts of our city where ambulances are waiting for hours to drop off the patients they bring on board.
In those places, the county is working with those hospitals to set up tents to receive those patients and get them out of the ambulances so that the ambulances can return to service, ”he explained.
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California continues to break records, with a daily average of
37,000
confirmed COVID-19 cases and 353 deaths related to the disease.
"Hospitals are declaring internal disasters and have to open church gyms to function as hospital units," said supervisor Hilda Solís
Due to the holidays, the situation is likely to get worse before it gets better.
Barbara Ferrer, Los Angeles County director of public health, said that “all the indicators tell us that our situation may get worse starting in 2021. The community transmission rate remains extraordinarily high ... As cases continue in at these alarmingly high levels,
hundreds more
are
likely to die
. "
With information from LA County, LA Daily Case Counts, CNN and the Los Angeles Times.