(Newser)
– A rising tide of new cases of coronavirus is flooding emergency rooms in parts of the U.S., with some patients rushed to the halls and nurses working additional shifts to keep up with the surge. Patients struggling to breathe are being placed on ventilators in emergency rooms as intensive care units are full, officials say, and the near-constant care they require is overloading workers who are also treating ER cases more. typical like chest pains, infections and fractures, the AP reports. In Texas, Dr. Alison Haddock of Baylor College of Medicine said the current situation is worse than after Hurricane Harvey, which flooded Houston with flooding in 2017. The state reported a new daily record of virus deaths on Friday and more than 10,000 confirmed cases of The fourth consecutive day.
“I have never seen anything like this increase in COVID,” said Haddock, who has worked in emergency rooms since 2007. “We are doing our best, but we are not an ICU.” Patients are waiting “hours and hours” to be admitted, he said, and less ill people are lying on beds in the hallways to accommodate the more seriously ill. Around Seattle, which was the country’s first hot spot for the virus that causes COVID-19, a new wave of patients is showing up in emergency departments, said nurse Mike Hastings. In another state, Florida, which is seeing an increasing number of cases, hospitals say they desperately need remdesivir, a drug that has been shown to reduce the average length of hospital stay, to treat coronavirus patients who are filling beds.
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