L.A. County EMS Told to Conserve Oxygen, Don’t Transport Patients with Little Chance of Survival

[MMiz]

L.A. County EMS Told to Conserve Oxygen, Don’t Transport Patients with Little Chance of Survival

LOS ANGELES — The situation in Los Angeles County hospitals is so critical that ambulance crews have been advised to try to cut back on their use of oxygen and not to bring to hospitals patients who have virtually no chance of survival. Officials now say they need to focus on patients with a greater chance of surviving.

Read more!

 

[DesertMedic66]

So LA county is now trying to do what other counties and states have been doing for years prior to COVID. Little late in the game.

 

[CALEMT]

Welcome to 2021 LACo, join what other counties in this state have already been doing for years.

 

[akflightmedic]

Yesterday was VERY challenging....I could not understand why LA was getting this national coverage for doing what darn near all of us have been doing for YEARS!!!

I am active on many news sites, and the commentaries were so misinformed and ignorant. Mostly because people would not read past the headline, pure sensationalism. Headlines are meant to be eye grabbing, mind grabbing...enough to the point where it draws you into the story, to ACTUALLY READ the story. No one does that anymore and it is a sad commentary on our society. People read the headline, form an opinion, blast stupid comments, then share the hell out of it and the cycle repeats. It is an absolute dumbing down of our populace.

I wrote an explanation that any layman could understand and I kept blasting it left and right, everywhere. Copy, paste, repeat!

I did my part and hope like hell I convinced 1 or 2...

 

[DrParasite]

Yesterday was VERY challenging....I could not understand why LA was getting this national coverage for doing what darn near all of us have been doing for YEARS!!!

Because the news me spinning the story like they are letting people die due to covid. they did the same thing in NYC back in April:

Grim New Rules for NYC Paramedics: Don't Bring Cardiac Arrests to ER for Revival

As the coronavirus stretches New York City emergency rooms and paramedics to their limits, a regional EMT group has issued new guidelines almost unthinkable even days ago — if someone’s in cardiac arrest and you can’t revive them in the field, don’t bring them to the emergency room. The newly...

www.nbcnewyork.com

EMTs in New York instructed not to bring cardiac arrest patients to hospital if no pulse is found after administering CPR | CNN

New York City Emergency Medical Service (EMS) teams who cannot find or restart a pulse while administering CPR on adult cardiac arrest patients have been instructed not to bring those patients to hospitals to mitigate the risk of Covid-19 exposure to EMS workers, according to a memo obtained by...

www.cnn.com

EMTs have stopped taking people in cardiac arrest to coronavirus-strained hospitals

Cardiac arrest victims whose hearts cannot be restarted at the scene are now being left there — rather than being brought to coronavirus-strained hospitals for further revival attempts, accor…

nypost.com

it's fear-mongering, plain and simple. the media has been doing it since the pandemic started, often based on no facts, other than an incorrect assumption about a treatment path. gets more clicks on their websites. it has nothing to do with facts, or that the rest of the country stopped doing it 10+ years ago.

BTW, when I started in EMS in the 90s, we did a lot of scoop and run with cardiac arrests to the ER, where they were pronounced shortly after we arrived. Did a lot of crappy CPR in the back of a moving ambulance. The science says work them on scene, as they have a better chance of survival that way, and if you don't get pulses back or a viable rhythm, then it's not meant to be. why doesn't the news media put that in their reporting?

 

[GMCmedic]

I didnt actually see a reason in the article for conserving oxygen, but fun fact. There are like only 3 places in the country that recertify oxygen cyclinders. I know this cause one is in my hometown, and the #2 guy there happens to be my hunting partner. He has been working 14 hours a day 7 days a week since September.

 

[akflightmedic]

Because the news me spinning the story like they are letting people die due to covid. they did the same thing in NYC back in April:

Grim New Rules for NYC Paramedics: Don't Bring Cardiac Arrests to ER for Revival

As the coronavirus stretches New York City emergency rooms and paramedics to their limits, a regional EMT group has issued new guidelines almost unthinkable even days ago — if someone’s in cardiac arrest and you can’t revive them in the field, don’t bring them to the emergency room. The newly...

www.nbcnewyork.com

EMTs in New York instructed not to bring cardiac arrest patients to hospital if no pulse is found after administering CPR | CNN

New York City Emergency Medical Service (EMS) teams who cannot find or restart a pulse while administering CPR on adult cardiac arrest patients have been instructed not to bring those patients to hospitals to mitigate the risk of Covid-19 exposure to EMS workers, according to a memo obtained by...

www.cnn.com

EMTs have stopped taking people in cardiac arrest to coronavirus-strained hospitals

Cardiac arrest victims whose hearts cannot be restarted at the scene are now being left there — rather than being brought to coronavirus-strained hospitals for further revival attempts, accor…

nypost.com

it's fear-mongering, plain and simple. the media has been doing it since the pandemic started, often based on no facts, other than an incorrect assumption about a treatment path. gets more clicks on their websites. it has nothing to do with facts, or that the rest of the country stopped doing it 10+ years ago.

BTW, when I started in EMS in the 90s, we did a lot of scoop and run with cardiac arrests to the ER, where they were pronounced shortly after we arrived. Did a lot of crappy CPR in the back of a moving ambulance. The science says work them on scene, as they have a better chance of survival that way, and if you don't get pulses back or a viable rhythm, then it's not meant to be. why doesn't the news media put that in their reporting?

Yep, I remember. And I did a lot of the same education then as well.

 

[KingCountyMedic]

Nice of LA to finally join the rest of the world. (30-40 years late but oh well)

I've never understood how the media and the entertainment industry always focuses on the worst EMS systems in the country. LA, Chicago, New York......

 

[E tank]

Accuracy and context are optional (read: unhelpful) when advancing a narrative.

 

[DrParasite]

 

[Bullets]

Nice of LA to finally join the rest of the world. (30-40 years late but oh well)

I've never understood how the media and the entertainment industry always focuses on the worst EMS systems in the country. LA, Chicago, New York......

What do all those systems have in common?

 

[KingCountyMedic]

What do all those systems have in common?

Too many paramedics with not enough training, no good medical director oversight. No support. EMS in many of these areas is fire based with no real passion for medicine. They do EMS to maintain jobs and shiny ladder trucks etc. Also multiple private companies with many of the same issues and then throw in high turnover rates, low wages and poor equipment. I'm no expert, I've never worked in those areas but I have many friends I've made over the years in those areas and I've been there, rode along and spent a good deal of time talking to first responders from these systems.

 

[luke_31]

Too many paramedics with not enough training, no good medical director oversight. No support. EMS in many of these areas is fire based with no real passion for medicine. They do EMS to maintain jobs and shiny ladder trucks etc. Also multiple private companies with many of the same issues and then throw in high turnover rates, low wages and poor equipment. I'm no expert, I've never worked in those areas but I have many friends I've made over the years in those areas and I've been there, rode along and spent a good deal of time talking to first responders from these systems.

You’re not wrong. I used to work LA County and that’s exactly the issue.

 

[CbrMonster]

Too many paramedics with not enough training, no good medical director oversight. No support. EMS in many of these areas is fire based with no real passion for medicine. They do EMS to maintain jobs and shiny ladder trucks etc. Also multiple private companies with many of the same issues and then throw in high turnover rates, low wages and poor equipment. I'm no expert, I've never worked in those areas but I have many friends I've made over the years in those areas and I've been there, rode along and spent a good deal of time talking to first responders from these systems.

This is exactly the issues, half the SoCal fire medics don’t want to be medics. They got their p cards to be a firefighter. They’re already pre burned out running bs medical aids and theirs tons of them especially etoh’ers.