Ambulance workers in Los Angeles County have reportedly been told to transport patients with a “small chance of survival” to local hospitals as intensive care units are flooded with COVID patients.
The directive from the Los Angeles County Emergency Medical Services Agency, obtained by CNN, also says that ambulance workers ‘must save on the use of oxygen’.
In Los Angeles, many intensive care units are at their capacity as a catastrophic wave of the virus hits Southern California.
According to provincial data, more than 6,000 patients are currently being treated for coronavirus in Los Angeles. Available hospital beds at most ICUs were virtually unstable.
As a result of these factors, EMS employees were told to “do at least 20 minutes of breathing” if a patient’s heart was stopped instead of taking them to a hospital.
In addition, California Government Gavin Newsom on Monday formed a task force to evaluate and upgrade “outdated oxygen delivery systems” at six Los Angeles hospitals.