It's Not Just Beds and Meds: US States Running Out of ICU Doctors and Nurses

It's a relief that civilian hospitals can call upon military doctors and nurses to supplement sick and exhausted medical staff.

But how did one of the wealthiest, most educated nations on earth come to this? JL

Beth Mole reports in ars technica:

Military medical personnel arrived in Los Angeles County to reinforce staffing at area hospitals struggling amid the pandemic. Other hospitals in the state have already received military back-up in their fight against the coronavirus. The additional medical personnel is “to provide surge staffing to hospitals in need.” The struggling hospitals are facing surges in patients and also may be short-staffed, potentially because staff have, themselves, become infected with the coronavirus. Eleven other states are facing staffing strain.

It’s not just beds and medical supplies—hospitals in multiple states are running low on doctors and nurses to tend to the deluge of COVID-19 patients.

Military medical personnel arrived in Los Angeles County Friday to reinforce staffing at two area hospitals struggling amid the pandemic, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times. The Department of Defense deployed the Air Force medical teams after state officials put in a request through the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The Times noted that six other hospitals in the state have already received military back-up in their fight against the novel coronavirus.

Brian Ferguson, a spokesperson for the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, told the Times that the additional medical personnel is “basically to provide surge staffing to hospitals in need.” He noted that the struggling hospitals are facing surges in patients and also may be short-staffed, potentially because staff have, themselves, become infected with the pandemic coronavirus.

Further, the two Los Angeles County hospitals receiving military staff wrote in a statement that they will use the personnel “to support operation of hospital critical care units amidst growing COVID-19 hospitalizations.”

Several other states may soon be in similar situations. Arizona and Texas are projected to face shortages of doctors who work in intensive care units next month, according to a recent report by researchers at George Washington University. Researchers estimate that more than 100 percent of the states’ intensive care doctors will be needed to care for COVID-19 patients alone in August.

Eleven other states are facing staffing strain, the researchers also reported. That means more than 50 percent of the states’ intensive care doctors may be required to support COVID-19 patients in the coming months.

“The news media [have] largely focused on hospitalizations and the danger of depleting the ICU bed supply, but staffing these beds may be an even greater problem,” the researchers write in the report. “New beds can be set up in other hospital units, or even outside the hospital setting, but it takes time to find highly specialized ICU professionals.”

The report also noted that the pandemic will also stress current staff, who will have to work more and harder shifts to care for the influx in patients. That in turn could lead to more burnout and more infections among health care workers.

So far, the United States has reported more than 4.3 million COVID-19 cases and nearly 150,000 deaths. New cases are currently increasing in 30 states, according to tracking by The New York Times.