Current Events > LA ambulance crews told not to transport patients w/ little chance of survival

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https://www.cnn.com/webview/world/live-news/coronavirus-pandemic-vaccine-updates-01-04-21/h_4bd878281be24fc704169b9955041cee

With intensive care units at Southern California hospitals nearly full because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Los Angeles County Emergency Medical Services Agency (EMS) has directed ambulance crews not to transport patients with little chance of survival to hospitals, and to conserve the use of oxygen. Los Angeles and Southern California are dealing with one of the country's worst outbreaks of the novel coronavirus. ICU bed capacity plunged to 0% in Southern California last month, as more and more people were admitted to hospital seeking treatment for Covid-19. Now, many medical facilities simply do not have the space to take in patients who do not have a chance of survival, according to the agency. As of Monday evening, there were 7,544 people hospitalized in Los Angeles due to Covid-19 and just 17 available adult ICU beds, according to county health data.

Due to the shortage of beds, the county EMS said patients whose hearts have stopped, despite efforts of resuscitation, should no longer be transported to hospitals. If there are no signs of breathing or a pulse, EMS will continue to perform resuscitation for at least 20 minutes, the EMS memo said. If the patient is stabilized after the period of resuscitation, the patient would then be transported to a hospital. If the patient is declared dead at the scene or if no pulse can be restored, paramedics will no longer transport the body to the hospital.



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Time to shut down.

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How many hospitals are in LA county? That data for the ICU beds say its just for 4, and I thought that county would have more

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all the hospitals in my area are near max capacity too >_>

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Thank you all you pieces of work that had to go celebrate Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year even though there's a deadly freaking pandemic outside, you guys are just great and awesome.
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So wait then where are they taken? Do they not have to go to a hospital to legally be declared dead?
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Bio1590 posted...

So wait then where are they taken? Do they not have to go to a hospital to legally be declared dead?

When my dad died, we just called the funeral home. Conveniently the hospice nurse was there doing her routine when he passed, so that may have had something to do with it

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Hard to believe that this is happening in America, but so many will sadly turn a blind eye to this and act like it's not absolutely tragic. We can't give every dying person the quality of treatment they should receive, but it's ok because they would die anyways or something
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up

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Uh oh. What about all those people who OD? Will they still be priority?

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My buddy is a paramedic and they've either had a Code 0 (all ambulances are busy) or all 8 of our hospitals have been on divert (we're full take them somewhere else) every single shift for the last month and a half.

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patients whose hearts have stopped, despite efforts of resuscitation, should no longer be transported to hospitals

this is completely normal in my field... We don't emergently transport dead people. The helicopter rescue will turn around if that's what we have. CPR does not work like people think it does, it works like 2% of the time in very specific illnesses

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Are hospitals actually full or is it because they furloughed their healthcare workers and stuff?

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@Colorahdo

this is completely normal in my field... We don't emergently transport dead people. The helicopter rescue will turn around if that's what we have. CPR does not work like people think it does, it works like 2% of the time in very specific illnesses

you do mountain guiding/rescues right (I don't exactly recall)? What happens to people's bodies if they die out there?

also how many dead people have you seen. Have you seen anyone die?

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That normal not need to OUTRAGE.

SMH some people are dumb.
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So pretty much just not taking dead people to a hospital

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cool... 1st world country with 3rd world healthcare practices

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Drpooplol posted...

@Colorahdo
you do mountain guiding/rescues right (I don't exactly recall)? What happens to people's bodies if they die out there?

also how many dead people have you seen. Have you seen anyone die?

@Drpooplol I've worked around 25 deaths and have had three people die in my arms movie-style

I work in the backcountry and at a ski area. At the ski area we usually transport them to the base and the coroner takes them. If they're super dead like their head blew up ( as opposed to most trauma deaths, who just bleed out internally with no obvious signs) then we leave them there and the coroner takes over the site. If it's the backcountry we extricate the body and deliver it to an ambulance

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seen on feeds that a few LA county hospitals set up triage tent city outside for patients. seems theyre all understaffed and out of room. i know folks that were diagnosed with pneumonia and double pneumonia after waiting to see a doctor. 6hrs+ for this one couple (wife was covid19 positive) about couple months ago in california.

seeing death changes people. we all power through our jobs and try not to think about the death by keeping busy. for some its delaying the time you end up spending on it. it all catches up if you dont deal with your experiences.
nobody and no training prepares you for the death of others while performing your job/duties. we often bottle up everything and push on. you absorb everything happening really. numb ourselves to death just to get by another day during these times. the whys and hows dont add up right.
just lost in thoughts about it all. its just all too late. we have to focus on the next and the next... its too exhausting. you cant sleep. youd rather be at work than go home because being alone in the apartment is ominous. cant wait to go back to work. expecting the worse yet to come but knowing you being there helps everybody there and making a difference. try to talk through people looking at them and not seeing their eyes. it all blurs together like a very long day. the day like this becomes routine and it goes over and over. years later brings the memories back and people lost.
its like the experience is re-lived. looking up into the sky at night exhausted. feeling the moment of first times you walked out as the cold blows through the skin. the quiet of surroundings in a tune of harmony as you look back. you can slow down the moment further to discern further sounds. the steps of people walking down the hallway. the hums of the machinery. the lockers opening and shutting. low buzz of monitors. the beeps of support systems. someone is moving cart with that squeeky wheel. the touch of metal as you make your way outside the facility. the taste of the hot pocket lingering from a lunch a hours ago. thoughts about where to go to eat on the travel home. you aint really hungry or have an appetite. just want to do something everything happening before you go home. burgers seemed fast and easy. do you eat it en route home or just scarf down everything inside the house. you shower and leave the warm water running through your body. the sound of it eases you in a quiet apartment. the warm water soothing. finish and make your way to your bed. you wind down lying down on the bed staring into ceiling. sometimes eyes get heavy. slowly close eyes. feels like you staring out with eyes closed. try to calm yourself. did i eat the burger yet. its quiet was your last thought. then you know your awake. wake up before the alarm. its another day.

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LeperMessiahXX posted...

Hard to believe that this is happening in America, but so many will sadly turn a blind eye to this and act like it's not absolutely tragic. We can't give every dying person the quality of treatment they should receive, but it's ok because they would die anyways or something

Keeping the economy going so stonks can go up is more important than these people's lives.

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pick4six posted...

Thank you all you pieces of work that had to go celebrate Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year even though there's a deadly freaking pandemic outside, you guys are just great and awesome.

Dey should be fined HARD, fuck dose people
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VTBM posted...

Are hospitals actually full or is it because they furloughed their healthcare workers and stuff?

this is the dumbest post i have seen in weeks

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