‘If you don’t want to live, don’t transfer’… Concerns about’medical collapse’ in the surge in inpatients

Input 2021.01.06 15:29 | Revision 2021.01.06 15:30

As the novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19) situation in the US is at its peak, concerns over the collapse of the healthcare system are growing.

On the 5th (local time), the Washington Post (WP) and other major U.S. media reports, the county of Los Angeles (LA), California, in the United States, gave a guideline to emergency medical personnel to “don’t give oxygen unless you are the worst patient.” This is because they face a lack of oxygen, which is essential for treating patients with Corona 19.

Along with this, if there is little hope of living, there is also an order not to be transferred to the hospital and to diagnose death at the site. This is because there is no manpower or space to treat them even after being transported to the hospital. Several hospitals in the Los Angeles area have actually had to keep returning ambulances carrying emergency patients in recent days.

According to US media such as the Washington Post (WP) on the 5th, the number of hospitalized patients for Corona 19 as of the day was 131,000, a record high again. The surge in patient numbers is particularly serious in states in the western and southern regions of the United States such as California, Arizona, Georgia, and Texas.

In California, as of 5 days, there are 22,000 hospitalized patients, of which 4700 are in intensive care units. In particular, in the southern region, not only the intensive care unit bed, but also the oxygen respirator and the cadaver are running out.

Due to the nature of COVID-19, a lung disease, even oxygen, which is absolutely necessary for patient treatment, has run out. Oxygen tanks to be stored in ambulances or taken to discharge patients are also insufficient. When this happened, health authorities in Los Angeles County issued guidelines to provide oxygen only to patients with less than 90 percent oxygen saturation. In addition, a tent clinic was installed outside the hospital building where emergency vehicles could put down patients.

As the number of deaths soared, Corona 19 was the third largest cause of death in the United States last year, CNN reported, citing a statistics expert at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). According to CNN, 301,000 corona19-related deaths were reported in the United States last year. Heart disease and cancer are the number one causes of death in the United States, respectively.