LA county directs ambulances not to transport COVID patients unlikely to survive

Ambulance crews in Los Angeles County are being directed not to transport patients with COVID to hospitals if it appears that they have a very low chance of survival in a strategy for saving space and oxygen.

According to a Monday memo issued by the LA County Emergency Medical Services Agency, ambulance crews are being asked to only administer oxygen to those with an oxygen saturation level below 90 percent.

The memo follows another directive last week whereby patients who lack a pulse or who have been declared dead at the scene are not to be brought to hospitals, KVUE reports.

The situation surrounding coronavirus has significantly worsened in recent weeks in California, especially in Los Angeles County despite increased lockdown efforts. 7,900 patients in LA hospitals are suffering from coronavirus with nearly 800 new patients admitted daily. Over one fifth of these patients end up in intensive care units.

In some cases, patients have waited in ambulances for eight hours or more waiting for hospital space to open up. Despite the dire situation in Los Angeles, some health officials believe that the worst is yet to come.

"We do not believe that we are yet seeing the cases that stemmed from the Christmas holiday. 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," said LA County director of health services Dr. Christina Ghaly on Monday.

However, with Christmas having been 11 days ago, it is likely that the effects of the holiday have already set in. According to the Center for Disease Control, quarantines can be ended after just ten days if no symptoms show up, even without testing.

Nearly 2.5 million cases of coronavirus have been recorded in California since the beginning of the pandemic, and over 26,000 people have died as a result.