About people who need an ICU bed being turned away

[thucythucy]

because all the beds are now filled by Covid patients who decided against readily available free vaccines:

We're now beginning to see accounts of people dying from non-Covid related illnesses due to ICU beds being filled by Covid anti-vaccers.

I think at this point hospital administrators might consider setting aside a percentage of ICU and hospital beds, say ten percent, to be reserved for all non-Covid related emergencies. Once all the designated Covid beds are filled, Covid patients would either be put on a waiting list, or be sent elsewhere, or perhaps put into a holding area such as a tent or mobile hospital unit until a Covid designated bed becomes available.

I don't know how I'd be able to manage the grief and anger should someone I love die because some right wing radio talk show blatherer or evangelical minister who'd railed against vaccines and called it all a hoax had occupied the ICU bed that should have gone to my mask wearing, vaccinated love one with cancer or a heart condition or serious injury or whatever.

But I hate thinking like this, I truly do. So if someone can think of a better and more humane to deal with this situation, I'd love to hear it.

Like I say, I hate the thought of anyone in need being denied treatment, but what else can we do?

[SheltieLover]

1. Send all willfully unvaxed to tents

Period.

They are breaking our healthcare system.

They are breaking our schools.

They are killing responsible citizens.

Docs & nurses suiciding & quitting jobs:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100215798455

This insanity needs to stop!

[Enter stage left]

5. I second every thing you said...

And for post two, no disrespect meant, too damn bad if there aren't enough staff to handle it. We can use the funds we save on nursing staff to fund the crematoriums for the idiots

[SheltieLover]

6. Yup

[Lars39]

2. Just my theory, but I don't think they

have the extra staff needed for tents.

[thucythucy]

3. Another reason why we should set aside beds

and perhaps staff as well, for non-Covid emergencies.

What a horrid situation this is.

[Lars39]

4. I feel so sorry for anybody with a true medical emergency

that is caught up in all this. Medical system staff is hanging on by a thread.

[SheltieLover]

8. Send them home with an rx for oxygen.

[csziggy]

13. Let the unvaccinated nurses and other staff take care of the unvaccinated patients

They deserve each other.

[Tetrachloride]

7. A relative is in a beginning administrative position

presumably dealing with either intake or billing.

Fortunately I am not in a covid risk area on most months. i get to sit back and read the headlines, and emails.

[thucythucy]

9. Same here.

But I worry what will happen when red states start insisting that low Covid areas take the overflow from their ICUs.

Our society had a way out of this mess, and a stubborn minority decided that "sticking it to the libs" was not only worth dying for, but also making some of us die as well.

What a mess.

[leftstreet]

10. Did hospitals have this same problem pre-vaccines?

At the peak of the worst case rates I remember hospital ICU capacity was high. I know elective surgeries were cancelled, etc. but were non-Covid patients dying at high rates back then?

[Mariana]

11. Non-Covid patients aren't dying at high rates now

for lack of access to beds. Like the OP said:

We're now beginning to see accounts of people dying from non-Covid related illnesses due to ICU beds being filled by Covid anti-vaccers.

Pre-vaccine was also pre-Delta variant. The situation with capacity may get to be worse than before.

[thucythucy]

18. I don't know if non-Covid patients were "dying at high rates"

but I do recall hearing of cases of hardship when non-covid patients had to defer medical care. This no doubt had serious consequences for some. Back surgery or cataract surgery might be "elective"--but postponing procedures such as those constituted a hardship for those people,

One of the reasons why public health officials were urging masks and social distancing at the beginning of all this was to keep the medical system from being overwhelmed. It seemed that this worked to the extent that medical care didn't completely collapse.

The Delta variant seems now to be reaching the point we were at back in 2020. Also, I think health care providers, ICU doctors and nurses, ER staff and such are much more stressed now, going through all this a second or third time.

Edited to add: someone posted below about their current problems getting needed, I would say critical surgery because all the local hospitals are full.

[kairos12]

12. Willfull anti-vaxers get the parking lot and a cot. Triage their dumbass.

[MerryBlooms]

14. I had hernias repaired at the beginning of this mess back in January...

During my surgery, the surgeon found three more hernias in need of repair. I was in a car accident in 2006, and had major internal damage, plus numerous major surgeries and back rebuilds. I was supposed to have those three other hernias done this summer, no go... Wait until fall. Now, that's a no, because Jackson county Oregon is a Covid Hot Mess. As far as I know, two of my hernias are incarcerated, but okay for now, because of their location. I am a home healthcare provider. I help one client with transitioning. I am very careful and wear my hernia belt. My clients, their families, part of my family and myself, are worried about me. The longer my surgery is put off, the more risk I am. Our hospitals are full and at this point, since I'm not an emergency, I'm considered elective. Heck, even if I ruptured, there wouldn't be an ICU bed! I am trying not to be resentful of the anti-vax-mask folks here, even in my own family... But I'm angry and I need surgery!

I was on a vent off and on for about 3 months after my accident. I graduated occasionally to oxygen, and taught to suck the slime out of my lungs with a tube through the tube in my throat. You're drowning in foam, you hit the button for a nurse... A nurse might come or not. The tube's in your hand. Suck out your lungs, or throat, or whatever it was I was sucking out with that tube. I remember the panic, sound, and smell... I know I have massive scars above my breasts, trach scar with polka dots all around it, my stomach and back look like a Thomas Guide. I have scars all up and down my arms... Giant staples scars across my tummy, some dyslexia from head trauma... The fact I survived everything I did, and end up helping two accident survivors... Crazy. I am so grateful.

I can't believe I have people in my community are Willing to go through the terror I did. Nurses at our hospitals protesting getting vaccinated? Fine. Get the hell out. I don't want you anywhere near me, or anyone else, unless it's out in a tent in the parking lot treating your fellow unvaccinated 'warriors'. Take that piece of shit, Ryan Mallory, crusader of vigilante justice you all rally around, and shove him where the sun don't shine.

[thucythucy]

19. I've had hernia surgeries and it's no picnic.

And the pain and stress of waiting for my day on the table wasn't much fun either, and that was years before Covid.

I hope you get taken care of soon. If I were in your situation I know I'd be beyond pissed at anyone I knew refusing to be masked and vaccinated.

Best wishes, and I hope you pull through this without too much more pain and stress.

[roamer65]

15. Willfully unvaxxed should be sent to special palliative care quarantine centers.

They don’t deserve an actual hospital bed.

[demtenjeep]

16. totally agree

they refuse the vaccine but want to suck up resources.

screw them

[FakeNoose]

17. Last year New York City and large metro hospitals had outdoor ICU tents

This all happened over a year ago, and the Red States didn't pay attention. It would have been a fine learning experience for them. The large eastern cities (also Detroit, Chicago, and west coast) had to learn the hard way about filling up their hospital beds with Covid patients.

The difference is - that all happened BEFORE there was any vaccine available. Now there IS vaccine and it's free for everyone. The Dumb States haven't caught on yet, so they have a very steep learning curve.

[thucythucy]

20. I'm waiting for when, as usual, they'll start asking blue states

to pull them out of this mess.

Back at the beginning of all this the Slobfather and his followers seemed to love the idea that it was a blue state "Democrat" pandemic. As I recall the Perverse Mango and his son-in-law actually prevented or delayed supplies going to the affected areas because, why should they--since those people didn't vote for him anyway.

I'm hoping my state, which has a high percentage of people who are vaccinated, doesn't have to start filling our ICU beds with out of staters. Again, I feel pretty awful feeling this way, but like I said, if someone I love gets compromised care because of these dumbasses, I'll be beyond angry.