Hospitals In Washington Are Running Out Of ICU Beds

It has been a long time with Covid-10 around us. It has done some unimaginable damage to everyone. The house rentals have started piling up in their books of accounts. The medical charges have sky-rocketed, and many are not able to even feed their families. The savings are being utilized to ensure that everyone eats at least once a day.

Believe it or not but the worst to hit is the medical department of the state. The level may differ based on personal experiences. The trauma, pain, and suffering, however, are shared commonly by the medical department with every other citizen of the state.

Hospitals In Washington Are Running Out Of ICU Beds

The Delta Variant entered and brought a wave that is now unavoidable and hard to manage. There are a few incidents to depict this statement.

Hospitals have started running out of bed. Many have already run out of an intensive care bed. This has affected the non-covid patients a lot.

Dr. Steve Mitchell, the Medical Director of the Emergency Department at the Harborview Hospital, has shared such incidents with the media.

In one incident, he came across a woman who needed an intensive care bed urgently. She succumbed to death after waiting for eight hours. Her health could have been made better had she received a bed on time.

In another incident, a patient needed an intensive care bed as he had a lifesaving surgery scheduled. Due to the unavailability of the bed, he had to wait for six hours. There is an update on his health but one can imagine what he must have gone through in those six hours.

The cases of Delta variant now comprise 96% of the total Covid-19 cases in the state. This has affected the hospitals in another way. Hospitals in the state are not just running out of an intensive care bed but they are also running out of staff members. These include janitor, non-medical, and medical staff members.

Dr. Umair Shah, the Secretary of Health in Washington, has rightly termed the condition of the hospitals as stressed. He added that the hospitals are functioning at more than full capacity. They are overstretched and the working staff is completely drained out of energy.

According to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, the total cases of hospitalization stand at an average of 3,200 every day. Out of these cases, 1,460 cases are of Covid-19 and the remaining cases are of non-Covid patients.

Attention is clearly required by every kind of patient. A professional must not be put in a condition where he or she has to choose a patient who must be treated on a priority basis.

The case of worry is also the vaccination status of the patients who are being admitted to a hospital. The data by Johns Hopkins University has revealed that nearly 95% of patients who are being admitted to a hospital have not yet been fully vaccinated. This is a sign of worry.

What Can Be Done?

Vaccination is the only savior during an urgent situation. No matter how cliche it sounds, everyone must get vaccinated on an early basis.

Residents of the state have begun taking the step in the right direction. The number of people being vaccinated has jumped by 21% in the current week.

The current vaccination status must be improved more to get better results. So far only 59.5% of the total population has been fully vaccinated. Out of the total population starting from 12 years of age, around 71.5% of the population has been partially vaccinated.

The data stands true as of August 24, 2021, and is verified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dr. Umair Shah has emphasized that if the residents don’t get vaccinated and don’t show their willingness to support the authorities in their endeavor, then the situation would continue for a long time.