Hit song “Keep coming”: COVID Hospitals struggle when beds are full

Detroit-Hospitals across the country are struggling to deal with burnout of doctors, nurses and other workers, and are already plagued by the crushing of patients due to the ongoing surge of COVID-19 delta mutations. We are currently preparing for another highly contagious mutation fallout.

Ohio has become the latest state to summon National Guard to support overwhelming medical facilities. Nebraska experts warned that the hospital may need ration care soon. Medical personnel in Kansas and Missouri have doubled and tripled cases of spooky memories of last holiday season, delaying surgery, refusing to relocate, and desperately trying to hire a travel nurse. I am.

Dr. Jacqueline Praum Carlson, Emergency Medicine Specialist at Henry Ford Health System in Detroit, said:

According to the government, the national average hospitalization for COVID-19 was 60,000 by Wednesday, far from the peak of last winter, but 50% higher than in early November. The situation is even worse in cold climates, where more and more people are gathering inside and new infections are piled up.

New York State reported on Friday that just over 21,000 people tested positive for COVID-19. This is the new highest since testing became widely available. The result was quick in New York City. The Rockets Christmas show was scratched for the season, and some Broadway shows were canceled due to cast members.

“We are now facing a very important delta surge and we are looking over the oncoming Omicron surge,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, President’s Chief Medical Advisor to President Joe Biden. I mentioned COVID-19. variant.

At the Advent HealthShawnee Mission, a hospital near Kansas City, Missouri, Chief Medical Officer Dr. Lisa Hayes said the emergency department was undergoing several days of backup.

“Beds don’t matter. It’s the nurses who staff the beds … and it’s all caused by increased COVID numbers and burnout,” Hayes said. “Our nurse is burned out.”

Experts attribute most of the increase in cases and hospitalizations to infections in people who have not been vaccinated with the coronavirus. The government says that 61% of the US population is fully vaccinated.

Dr. Steve Stetes, Chief Medical Officer of the University of Kansas Health System in Kansas City, Kansas, said a “unvaccinated pandemic” continues to attack hospitals and their workers.

“There is no place to go. Our staff are tired. There will be a shortage of travelers,” he said. health A certified care worker, “And Omicron is at our doorstep. This is a tornado alert to our community.”

The Ohio National Guard deployment was one of the largest deployments seen during the pandemic, with more than 1,000 members sent to poor hospitals, especially in the Akron, Canton, and Cleveland areas.

As of Friday, 4,723 people in the state were hospitalized for the coronavirus. This is the last number seen about a year ago, Governor Mike Dewein said. He added that some staff had only taken a short break before punching in to the second shift.

Health systems elsewhere, which are getting a little better, are nervously looking at the arrival of Omicron variants and immersing themselves in their effects.

Nebraska officials said the hospital may have to take some care to make room for COVID-19 patients. Although the number of cases has declined from the peak of the state pandemic, it has the potential to recover rapidly and bed availability remains tight for patients with non-viral disease.

“In Omaha, Omicron can cause a huge surge, and to be honest, we can’t handle it at this time,” said Dr. Angela Hewlett of Nebraska Medicine in Omaha.

At the Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Los Angeles, only 17 coronavirus patients were being treated on Friday. This is only a small part of the worst range of hospitals. Nurse manager Edgar Ramirez said his colleague was tired but ready in the event of a wave.

“The human factor of having that fear will always be there,” Ramirez said. “I tell the crew,” we have to speak through this. We have to express ourselves. Otherwise it would be difficult. “

Twin sisters Linda Calderon and Natalie Bali, 71, had planned vaccination but postponed it until it was too late. Currently, they are oxygenating in the same room in Providence Holy Cross, and the beds are only a few feet away.

“We kept saying,’I’ll do it tomorrow,’ but never tomorrow,” she said, watching her sister struggle to breathe. “I really regret not being able to get the shot, because if I did, it wouldn’t be like this now.”

Pflaum-Carlson, a doctor at Henry Ford Health in Detroit, has publicly pleaded for people to take shots for their benefit and for those who are struggling at the forefront of care. Eighty percent of the approximately 500 COVID-19 patients in the five hospitals of the system were unvaccinated.

“Please have a little grace and consideration about how the catastrophe is happening now,” she said.

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Associated Press journalists Eugene Garcia and Jae Hong of Los Angeles, Heather Hollingsworth of Kansas City, Missouri, and Andrew Welsh-Huggins of Columbus, Ohio contributed to this report.