Los Angeles County’s Emergency Medical Services Agency has reportedly instructed ambulance teams to leave behind patients they cannot resuscitate at the scene.
On Sunday, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said the city is reporting new coronavirus cases every six seconds, adding to the over 827,000 reported cases over the course of the pandemic. Approximately 10,850 of those L.A. residents have died so far. And as hospitals once again move beyond capacity, authorities are facing grim decisions.
“Ambulance relieving stations” are being set up outside emergency rooms to help deal with the volume of patients being transported to hospitals, but the strain on both the ambulance crews and hospital staff remains untenable. Because of this, EMS teams have been told to reduce their use of oxygen via a directive distributed Monday.
Additionally, these first responders have reportedly been instructed to attempt resuscitation for at least 20 minutes at the scene but to leave
