State oxygen depot established in Riverside County to assist hospitals in the region
The California Emergency Medical Services Authority has brought "much-needed" oxygen to Riverside County to meet the needs of hospitals around the region, officials announced on Thursday.
"Oxygen suppliers are having a difficult time meeting the high demand of area hospitals due to the COVID-19 pandemic," said EMD Director, Bruce Barton "This isn’t limited to just one hospital. COVID patients need lots of oxygen and that’s taxing the entire healthcare system. We’ve been working with representatives from California Emergency Medical Services Authority to address the growing needs and we’re glad to report that today EMSA set up an oxygen depot, a state resource, that will supply Riverside County and surrounding counties with oxygen."
According to the county, the oxygen depot is comprised of two large oxygen generators that will fill the large tanks used by hospitals. Riverside County was chosen as located right in the middle of many Southern California counties.
The oxygen generator will remain available until suppliers are able to keep up with demands.
The need for oxygen will continue to grow as hospitalizations in the state, region, and county continue to do as well.
According to Cathy Chidester, director of the county’s Emergency Medical Services Agency, some COVID-19 patients can require 10 times as much oxygen as a normal patient.
As of January 7, Riverside County is reporting 1,634 hospitalizations. That's more than three times the summer peak of 550. There are 364 patients in the ICU, more than double the summer peak.
It's a similar story around most counties in California and in particular the counties surrounding Riverside. The Southern California region's ICU availability percentage has been at 0% since Dec. 18.
While our local hospitals have not publicly announced an oxygen shortage, hospitals in nearly by Los Angeles County have. On Saturday, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers crews arrived to update the oxygen delivery systems at six LA County hospitals.
Officials at those hospitals said they were having issues maintaining oxygen pressure while "treating an unprecedented number of patients with respiratory issues." Hospitals were also having trouble keeping up with the demand for oxygen tanks for discharged patients to take home.
We've been continually speaking with officials from our local hospitals, who share updates on the situation at their hospital. We haven't been told that there is a major shortage of oxygen, but the number of patients does continue to increase.
In an update posted by Eisenhower Health posted on Jan. 6, officials revealed that they have had added more than 100 COVID patients since Thanksgiving. Due to issues with staffing, the hospital has suspended elective surgical cases and procedures.
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