Carroll Healthcare Overwhelmed; Pleads for Help |
By EMS Captain David Coe | |
December 31, 2021 | |
Westminster, MD, - Please read the letter below to the Carroll County community, issued jointly from Carroll Hospital, Carroll County Health Department, Carroll County Department of Public Safety and Carroll County Department of Fire/EMS. Letter to the Carroll County community, We write to you, combining our efforts as public safety officials, to plead with you to take action now to help your loved ones, friends, neighbors and the community as a whole. Carroll Hospital, fire and emergency medical services (EMS) personnel, urgent care facilities and other community health care providers need your help, and we need it now. COVID-19, with its variants, is rapidly spreading infection throughout the county, bringing unprecedented stress to pre-hospital (EMS) providers and Emergency Departments (ED) in Carroll County and the surrounding areas. Dramatically increasing numbers of residents are testing positive for COVID and the rapid spread places unequalled pressure on our health care systems and our dedicated front line health providers. Concerning numbers of patients, both COVID-positive and otherwise, are causing many hospitals, including Carroll Hospital, to become overloaded and listed as “Yellow Alert”, “Red Alert” or “Reroute.” (https://www.miemssalert.com/chats/Default.aspx?hdRegion=3) What does this mean for you? - With so many people in the hospital, wait times are longer and a bed may not be available if you need one. Ambulances are being held in the parking lots at hospitals for extended periods of time.
DO: - Avoid going to emergency departments for issues such as coughs and colds, low-grade fevers and non-life-threatening issues. DON’T: - Use the emergency department as a testing center; go to testing centers (https://coronavirus.maryland.gov/pages/symptoms-testing) Examples of when to call 911 for EMS: - Chest pains or persistent pain or pressure in the chest Carroll County – this is real. We are in a very difficult situation. This is not about politics or personal beliefs. This is about taking care of ourselves, each other, our first responders, our healthcare providers, and our community. You trust us with your medical conditions, you trust us with your emergencies, you trust us with your surgeries. So now it’s time to please do your part by protecting yourself and each other. Regardless of what you believe, put that aside and help us to reduce the pressure on our healthcare system, so that it can return to providing the best care possible to our community. Since the beginning of the pandemic, our healthcare providers and first responders have been seen as heroes. Now we need the community to be our heroes by helping to limit the spread of this virus: get the vaccine, get the booster, socially distance, gather responsibly, wear your mask in public places, and wash your hands. Please be there for our healthcare workers and first responders, so we can be there for you. Sincerely, Garrett W. Hoover, President and COO Susan M. Doyle, RN, Acting Health Officer Scott R. Campbell, FPE, Director Michael W. Robinson, MA, CFO, NRP, Director |
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