LA Paramedics Told Not To Transport Some Patients With Low Chance Of Survival:
The Los Angeles County Emergency Medical Services Agency issued a directive Monday that ambulance crews should only administer bottled oxygen to patients whose oxygen saturation levels fall below 90%.
In a separate memo from the county's EMS Agency, paramedic crews have been told not to transfer patients who experience cardiac arrest unless spontaneous circulation can be restored on the scene.
Both measures announced Monday, which were issued by the agency's medical director, Dr. Marianne Gausche-Hill, were taken in an attempt to get ahead of an expected surge to come following the winter holidays.
Many hospitals in the region "have reached a point of crisis and are having to make very tough decisions about patient care," Dr. Christina Ghaly, the LA County director of health services said at a briefing Monday.
[...] "We do not believe that we are yet seeing the cases that stemmed from the Christmas holiday," Ghaly added. "This, sadly, and the cases from the recent New Year's holiday, is still before us, and hospitals across the region are doing everything they can to prepare."
Los Angeles County hospitals are so inundated, officials said they're just trying to provide the best care they can for the people who need it.
The memo sent out on December 28 by the medical director of L.A. County's Emergency Medical Services agency, Dr. Marianne Gausche-Hill, addressed how first responders should treat stroke and heart attack patients, saying a patient should be treated at the scene first and have a pulse during resuscitation before transporting them to the hospital.
[...] The medical director of L.A. County's Emergency Services Agency, Dr. Marianne Gausche-Hill, assured CBS2 that officials continue to do all they can to save patients' lives at the scene and the hospital, as they always have.
"We are not abandoning resuscitation," Gausche-Hill said. "We are absolutely doing best practice resuscitation and that is do it in the field, do it right away... What we're asking is that — which is slightly different than before — is that we are emphasizing the fact that transporting these patients arrested leads to very poor outcomes.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 05 2021, @10:40PM (6 children)
You are some special kind of stupid when you are pointing out how the whole point is supposed to be "slow the spread" and this story is exactly about not enough resources because it spread too quickly.
Funny how for over 100 years they've had to wear masks in the operating room. Who knew that after all this time that it we've been infringing upon the doctor and nurse's freedoms! Me, personally, would greatly prefer the nurse to not sneeze into my open chest cavity during surgery. Now I wonder what the similarities are between the two situations?
As I said, you really are a special kind of stupid. Not only stupid, but very vocally proud that you're stupid. As my momma always said, . . .
(Score: 0, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 05 2021, @10:58PM (5 children)
Masks in the operating room stop transfer of bacteria-laden saliva.
Mask manufacturers specifically state they are not for the prevention of virus transmission, as viruses are many times smaller than bacteria. You have been educated fool.
(Score: 2, Informative) by epitaxial on Wednesday January 06 2021, @01:24AM (4 children)
You're a fucking moron if you think the virus itself flies through the air. The virus is contained in saliva or mucus which is easily stopped by a cloth mask.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 06 2021, @02:43AM (1 child)
To be fair COVID is airborn as well in the breath to some degree, however even if some virus particles get through the mask it drastically reduces the radius of virus loaded exhalations. This means the people around you are less likely to inhale the virus before it disperses enough to not be a major threat, especially if people maintain social distancing. The AC is just a rabid anti-masker
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 06 2021, @05:57PM
I'm not a rabid anti-masker. I am just not a rabid pro-masker. Can you comprehend the difference?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 06 2021, @08:24PM (1 child)
not it's not stopped by a cloth mask because you put your grubby little paws on the mask 400 times a day and then touch everything in sight like a 5 year old at the toy store. wake up, you retarded slave.
(Score: 2) by epitaxial on Thursday January 07 2021, @05:31PM
All of that is perfectly acceptable. But unlike you I can keep my fingers out of my mouth and nose.