Orange County hospitals have been ordered to stop moving ambulances to other medical centers when the emergency room is too busy. The order came out late at night, hours after the county reported a record high number of new deaths and cases in a single day.
The increase in coronavirus cases has stabilized hospital resources where many people are urging ambulances to move elsewhere.
EMS Medical Director of Orange County Dr. Carl Schultz told us that, for the moment, it would be up to the hospitals to implement their own emergency room overflow plans.
“In a situation where a particular hospital is completely submerged, the ambulance company is allowed to move those patients to another hospital whose impact is minimal.”
Ambulance companies can call it, however, only after waiting at least an hour to unload the patient. That allowance is being given to avoid another potential problem: the lack of an ambulance.
So should you call 911? In a real emergency, yes, Schultz says, but if you’re in a position to transport yourself safely into the ER, Orange County icles Fickles is telling you to do it and call an ambulance unless necessary.
Usually when hospitals receive many emergency cases or there is a shortage of specialists, they temporarily bring ambulances to new cases so that they have the opportunity to interact with patients. Instead of going to the nearest hospital, an ambulance can be directed to take patients to a more capable medical center for faster care. But it only works when it has a few hospitals and a little time.
To date, the 0% availability of hospital beds in the Southern California area is being reported. The area includes LA, Orange, Ventura, Riverside, San Bernardino, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, San Diego, Royal, Mono and Inyo counties.
See the Orange County number in general:
Here’s a look at the long-term trends in the county. To see more, visit our California COVID-19 tracker and choose Orange County or any other California county to suit your interests. These numbers were current as of Thursday, December 16 and do not include today’s updates:
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