Wake County, the capital county of North Carolina, reports that some ambulances are left waiting up to two hours at hospital bays due to lack of emergency department beds. EMS across the nation are also seeing record numbers of emergency calls coming through.
“We hit 10,000 calls for the first time in the history of Wake County in May and surpassed that volume in June and surpassed June in July,” public information officer for Wake County EMS Brian Brooks told Newsweek. “We’re on pace to break 11,000 this month.”
The country’s EMS worker shortage is nothing new, Brooks told Newsweek. But with the added stress of the pandemic bringing in record patients, both EMS workers and sick individuals are feeling the effects. Back in March, Bloomberg News reported that New York City first responders saw the highest number of emergency calls since 9/11.
“We actually saw a record low number of calls during the lockdown,” Brooks told Newsweek. “Since the restrictions were lifted, those people who were not going to the hospital and/or receiving care all tried to go at once.”
Brooks says this is causing overflow in not only emergency rooms but at primary care offices.
“Now, the doctor’s offices are overflowing. You can’t get an appointment…and the people that are not feeling well have no other option other than to go to the emergency room,” Brooks explained to Newsweek. “So when the emergency room overflows, that backs us up because we can’t transfer care. When we have to wait an hour or two to get the patient off of our bed, that unit is not available to run calls.”
Brooks explained that with the lack of hospital beds, ambulances are stuck waiting hours with patients. This leads to a shortage of running units and adds stress to the already hurting system. He says one solution is utilizing urgent care facilities for non-emergency situations.
“If you walk into the emergency room, you’re going to end up waiting for six to eight hours for whatever it is that you went in there with, unless it was a shooting, a heart attack, a stabbing,” Brooks says. In order to deal with overwhelming need, hospitals and EMS workers are triaging the severe emergencies first which leaves other patients waiting record-long times.
The national EMS shortage stems from several factors including low salaries, lack of educational facilities, and lack of longevity on the job. Brooks explained that many EMS workers continue their education to become nurses and PA’s because the wages are so low for the strenuous work. Many EMS officials have asked for additional funding to help promote new recruits and some are finding themselves successful.
In Erie, Pennsylvania, a nonprofit organization called Emergycare is working to recruit more workers. The program is taking the initiative to hire 12 new recruits in order to battle the national shortage, YourErie.com reports.
