Los Angeles ambulance staff ordered not to carry patients to hospitals with little chance of survival

In what
can be dubbed as one of the most heartbreaking and devastating impacts of
COVID-19 pandemic, the Los Angeles County’s Medical Services Agency (EMS)
instructed its ambulance crews not to transport patients who have little chance
of survival to already overwhelmed hospitals, reported CNN on Monday night.

According to CNN, the EMS directed LA ambulance staff in a memo explicitly stating that resuscitation for at least 20 minutes must be performed on patients who show no signs of breathing and should be taken to hospitals only if the patient can be stabilised during the resuscitation period.

“Effective immediately, due to the severe impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on EMS and 9-1-1 Receiving Hospitals, adult patients (18 years of age or older) in blunt traumatic and nontraumatic out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) shall not be transported [if]return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) is not achieved in the field,” the agency said in a memo issued to ambulance workers last week.

Also read: WHO team to visit China to explore origin of coronavirus

The direction was issued in order to conserve oxygen and abate the pressure on health care facilities flooded with virus infected patients as county’s hospitals run out of space due to surging COVID-19 cases.

“Given the acute need to conserve oxygen, effective immediately, EMS should only administer supplemental oxygen to patients with oxygen saturation below 90%,” the memo further instructed.

Meanwhile, according to Los Angeles health data, there were nearly 7,900 virus positive patients hospitalised across the county on Sunday while 1,627 of which were in intensive care units.

LA’s Hospital space is running out, with just 17 available adult ICU beds remaining as of Monday.