The overwhelming surge in Covid cases in Los Angeles, California forced health officials to issue a memo urging ambulance workers not to bring patients with “little chance of survival” to packed hospitals and to try as possible to “conserve oxygen.”
The new guidelines came as the positive coronavirus cases soar across the state, with an estimated 38,000 infected people as of Monday and 6,000 hospitalized patients in Los Angeles where ICUs are operating over the capacity.
The ambulance workers should now verify the patients' pulse and breathing before determining whether they could be taken to hospitals or not.
They also should consider the use of oxygen as the city heads to a shortage announced earlier last week, as Gov. Gavin Newsom promises to appoint a task force in charge of the matter.
Dr. Brad Spellberg, chief medical officer at the Los Angeles County-University of Medical Center, warned Californians that the situation is only worsening with holidays and familial gatherings.
“This is about total collapse of the health care system if we have another spike. And we, in the hospital, cannot stop that. We can only react to it.”
He added: “It is the public that has the power to put a stop to the spread of this virus by obeying the public health guidance that had been put out.”
