What it's like when hospitals say they've run out of ICU beds

[Jilly_in_VA]

Michael Kagan, a professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, says the cancerous lymph nodes in his neck are like a “ticking time bomb.” But there’s little he can do.

MountainView Hospital, where he was scheduled to have his procedure last week, has put all surgeries requiring an overnight stay on hold as Covid-19 case counts and hospitalizations climb, according to a statement from spokesperson Jennifer McDonnell.

“I’m not getting any treatment so on any given day it could spread to another part of my body or it can grow and cause a much bigger problem,” Kagan told CNN’s Brianna Keilar on Tuesday. “I’m just living with a time bomb and I’m just letting it tick down, basically.”

With Covid-19 case numbers surging across the United States and many unvaccinated Americans falling ill, the number of available hospital beds has been dwindling in parts of the country. Some hospitals now report their intensive care units, which are usually reserved for the most critically ill patients, are full – a grim reality that’s forcing health care leaders to make tough decisions, whether that be redirecting new patients to other facilities, canceling surgeries or creating makeshift ICU beds in the middle of emergency rooms.

“It’s a nightmare,” said Dr. Teri Dyess, director of hospital medicine at St. Dominic Hospital in Jackson, Mississippi. “We’ve had people drive here (from) three hours away for their planned surgery and we have no beds to put them in after they operate.”

https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/14/us/full-icus-summer-covid-surge/index.html
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And people still don't want to wear masks or get vaccinated because FREEDUMB!

[leftieNanner]

1. This is nothing like cancerous lymph nodes

But I had an important procedure that has been percolating for 3 years cancelled ten days ago and my husband needs a hip replacement soon. He can hardly walk. But our hospitals are absolutely slammed with Covid. Our county is only 46% vaccinated. We have right wingers here as well as new-age natural health kinds of folks. Bad combination when you're trying to fight a pandemic.

One of the local hospitals had 61 EMPLOYEES test positive! How can any health care facility allow employees to opt out of the vaccine?

This is beyond nuts.

[sillywabbit]

3. You must be from

Jackson County, Oregon. Our friend broke his femur right at the place where it attached to his hip replacement, and he had to be taken by ambulance to Portland for surgery because there was no room here. Thankfully, he wasn't at Asante when they announced all of those positive tests.

[leftieNanner]

9. You are correct!

Between the rise in Covid cases and the heat/smoke, we were going crazy. Drove up to Seattle for a few days. We might have to move up here!

[sillywabbit]

27. Heat/Smoke/Covid

That sounds like a good plan! We are considering buying a place on the coast. I grew up in Gold Beach, so it would be at the top of my list.

[Mariana]

6. My mother recently got diagnosed with a cyst on her spine.

It's pressing on a nerve, causing her severe and debilitating pain. Simple and quick outpatient procedure to remove it and resolve the issue. But no, she can't get it done because it's not life threatening. This is in Florida.

[leftieNanner]

10. That's awful

I'm sorry.

[Mariana]

12. The anti-vaxxers don't think they're hurting anyone else.

They're wrong.

[Laurelin]

21. I think

They just don't care that they're hurting other people.

[Warpy]

17. People who have been vaccinated are testing positive

because this is a much more aggressively contagious form of the virus that takes hold quickly. There is no indication those 61 people were unvaccinated or if they'd been vaccinated with mild or no symptoms, or where they worked in the hospital, like medical records or transcription or IT or any other area with no contact with patients.

Given the USSC's ruling about a vaccine mandate in Indiana last week, I think you'll see not only hospitals, but everything from factories to burger joints mandating the shot.

[ShazamIam]

18. Yes, how can any health care facility allow unvaccinated workers. CA gov Newsome mandated

health care facility workers to be vaccinated and now there is a push to mandate home health care workers to be vaccinated since those being cared for at home are as vulnerable as those in care and medical facilities.

[dalton99a]

2. Kick

[bucolic_frolic]

4. Drive extra carefully, everyone

If you have a car accident, there might not be room at the inn.

[totodeinhere]

5. It's funny. I live in rural NE Nevada and often in the past people in my area got flown

to a hospital in Utah for medical treatment. But lately it's been the other way around. The hospitals in Utah are so full that they have been flying people here to our rural hospital because it still has some beds available.

[IronLionZion]

7. This will all be over by summer

I hope people enjoyed their freedom.

[KentuckyWoman]

8. Car accidents.

The grandchild of an acquaintance was very seriously injured in a car accident in Florida a few days ago. I don't know all the logistics but they managed to slow bleeding at a local hospital and then put the child on a chopper to Atlanta. It is the closest place they could get a trauma unit.

I was told the child's mother was driving and died. My acquaintance is of the opinion her daughter in law would have survived if Florida was not so bogged down with Covid.

These won't be counted among Covid's victims.

[Lars39]

11. My offspring canceled their trip

from near Chicago to middle TN because it was just too risky with hospitals here full.
I hadn’t seen them since before the pandemic.

[Phoenix61]

13. Time to triage their sorry asses right the hell

out of there. Send them home and let their fellow anti-vaxers care for them.

[Grins]

14. It's past time for: "Not vaccinated? No admission."

The wanted a choice, here’s one back for them.

[Phoenix61]

15. Works for me. Although I would be willing to

set aside a certain number of beds for covidiots. However, when they fill up, that’s it. Those empty beds are for heart attacks, strokes, assorted accidents…

[marybourg]

16. The professor needs to get his doctor to call

some hospitals outside of the red zone. He could even call Memorial Sloan Kettering in NYC himself to get an appointment to be seen there. It NOT true that “ there’s little he could do”.

[Disaffected]

19. I don't know about the insurance aspect of it but

Canada is now allowing vaccinated Americans to enter for "non-essential purposes". Our hospital situation here is a bit worrisome but not nearly as bad as many areas of the US. Maybe he could come here?? Vancouver or Calgary would be the major centres closest to Nevada.

[marybourg]

20. Maybe. But he can't just sit home and do nothing.

[Disaffected]

23. On further reflection,

such a move seems like a long shot as there is a considerable operating room backlog here now due mainly to delays from Covid that have happened previously and built up over the past year or so. Bummer all round....

[LisaL]

24. He doesn't have insurance in Canada.

I don't think Canada is going to treat US citizens for free.

[Disaffected]

26. Of course not.

However, he will find that the cost of uninsured medical care in Canada is often (always?) far less than what is typically charged in the US for the same service. IIRC, 1/4 to 1/3 the cost at least in some instances.

Having cancerous lymph nodes removed in a (possibly) more timely manner may be well worth it.

[LisaL]

25. I presume the money/insurance aspect of it make it difficult.

But I agree-start a gofundme if necessary.

[Crunchy Frog]

22. The willfully unvaccinated are terrorists and murderers.

Where necessary, they should be thrown out to make room for people who are legitimately sick.