alta. icus not able to maintain standard of care amid fourth wave
an open letter signed by nearly 60 doctors says hospitals are unable to provide care to ever-growing numbers of icu patients in the fourth wave of the covid-19 pandemic.
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calgary icu staff working on patients in a crowded icu.
supplied by ahs
by: anna junker
alberta hospitals do not have the resources to properly provide care to ever-growing numbers of icu patients in the fourth wave of the covid-19 pandemic, intensive care doctors say.
in an open letter signed by nearly 60 doctors from the alberta medical association section of intensive care, they state that as icu capacity grows, staffing ratios per patient fall below the normal standard of care.
“although diverting workers can provide some additional staffing, there are insufficient numbers of these specialized team members to care for the increasing numbers of icu patients” the letter states. “the demand for icu nurses is currently so high that we need to increase the number of patients assigned to each nurse.”
alberta’s icus are running at well over double our normal capacity, driven by a growing number of severely ill covid-19 patients.
“as intensive care physicians, it is our duty to ensure that we continue to help the critically ill at any time and any place within our province,” dr. clinton torok-both icu section president, said in a press release.
“unfortunately, our ability to equitably provide intensive care to all albertans remains under threat.”
this letter comes a day after two senior doctors in alberta released a letter to the new health minister calling for “fire break” measures to help the strain on hospitals.
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in the fourth wave of the pandemic, hospitals have become so inundated that surgeries have been cancelled, the military has been asked for help transporting patients to other provinces, and alberta has inched closer to implementing its triage protocol, which would determine which sick people get treatment based on the likelihood of survival.
alberta health services ceo dr. verna yiu has said the only thing that has helped keep beds available in the icu is the amount of daily covid-19 deaths.
the doctors go on to state support for implementing public health measures, and the need for the government and public health officials to be more responsive to escalate measures as needed.
as of monday, there are 370 icu beds open in alberta, including 197 surge spaces. of those, 38 have been opened in the last week.
icu capacity is at 84 per cent across the province, with 312 patients. the overwhelming majority of them have covid-19. edmonton icus are at 86 per cent of current capacity, the central zone is at 93 per cent, and the north zone is at 100 per cent.
calgary and the south zone are operating at 80 and 81 per cent of current capacity, respectively.
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