Southern California hospitals receive too many patients with coronavirus and do not have enough oxygen to treat the sickest.
As a result of the supply issue at least five hospitals in Los Angeles County reported an ‘internal disaster’ on Sunday, which included the evacuation of all ambulances which were incoming with patients.
The Los Angeles County Department of Health Services confirmed the assignment, but did not specify which hospitals, just said they were in the eastern part of the province.
County and hospital officials told news outlets that the problem was not just a shortage of gas itself.
Medical centers also do not have enough canister to send home with patients and an aging hospital does not have pipes that are able to circulate a lot of oxygen to patient rooms.
At least five hospitals in Los Angeles County declared an ‘internal disaster’, and as a result turned off all ambulance traffic, due to storage of oxygen. Pictured: A clinician will care for a COVID-19 patient in the ICU at Providence St. Mary’s Medical Center in Apple Valley, California, Dec. 23
Aging hospital pipes cannot handle the high flow of oxygen that causes the pipes to freeze, and there are not enough cans to send home to patients who have been hospitalized. release. Pictured: Dr. Rafik Abdou (right) and respiratory therapist Babu Paramban look at a COVID-19 patient at Holy Cross Providence Medical Center in Los Angeles, November 19
More than 7,400 people are currently hospitalized in Los Angeles County, an increase of nearly 1,000% since Oct. 29
Los Angeles County Director of Health Services, Dr. Christina Ghaly, told CNN that the infrastructure issue is twofold.
First, the high levels of oxygen required by COVID-19 patients are up to 10 times higher than normal use, which put a lot of pressure on hospital pipes.
Second, this high current causes the pipes to freeze.
‘They can’t keep the pressure in the pipe to keep oxygen delivery at the high level of pressure that needs to be delivered through the high oxygen delivery vehicles,’ she told the network.
‘Because of that high flow through the pipes, sometimes it freezes in the pipe, and obviously if it does freeze you can’t have a good flow of oxygen.’
One solution involves hospitals moving COVID-19 patients to a lower floor, so the pipes can pump oxygen more easily without freezing.
Hospitals also do not have enough canisters to send homes to patients once they are discharged so that they can continue to receive oxygen therapy.
Because of this, patients who may have left a bed now have to stay in the hospital.
It comes as Los Angeles County faces the highest number of hospitals with more than 7,400 beds, according to data from the county ‘s public health department.
Approximately 20 percent of these patients are treated in intensive care units.
That’s about a 1,000 percent increase from the 750 hospitals registered in the county on October 29th.
A DailyMail.com survey shows that California received an average of more than 40,000 new cases each day in the week before Christmas, forcing hospital staff to prepare to rationalize care and prioritize care. treatment of patients who are more likely to survive.
Barbara Ferrer, Los Angeles County director of public health, said the situation is only getting worse in the new year.
“The rate of community referral remains extremely high… As things continue at these alarmingly high levels, it is likely that hundreds more people will die,” she told the Los Angeles Times.
‘We all need to give our hospitals a fighting opportunity to handle the flood of COVID-19 patients that arrive every day. ‘