Atlanta hospitals overwhelmed by coronavirus patients

CBS News ^ | Mar 25,2020

[Lazamataz]

At Atlanta's Grady Hospital, all 100 beds in the intensive care unit were full. Then COVID-19 hit. Viral patients are now quarantined wherever the hospital finds space.

"The stress is not just capacity," Chief Medical Officer Dr. Robert Jansen told CBS News. "It's not just stress of supplies, but on the individuals taking care of the patients. Because so much is not known."

At all of Atlanta's four major hospitals, every ICU bed is taken.

"Just kinda deteriorated," said Justin Anthony, whose cousin is in one of those hospitals. "By Sunday, the fever had not broken and she started coughing.

His cousin, Emma, is 12, one of Georgia's youngest coronavirus patients. Emma's hooked to a ventilator at Atlanta's Children Hospital.

In Alabama, a newborn baby girl is in isolation after her nurse tested positive for COVID-19.

Back in Georgia, at one rural hospital, 12 COVID-19 patients have died. That's more than in thirty-eight states. The hospital is overwhelmed.

"They've asked for help, but we can't give it," Jansen said.

[daniel1212]

I actually suspect that while treatment can help, being an a hospital with other patients with infectious diseases can be worse than if they were treated out in the parking lot, if warm.

https://medium.com/@ra.hobday/coronavirus-and-the-sun-a-lesson-from-the-1918-influenza-pandemic-509151dc8065 Coronavirus and the Sun: a Lesson from the 1918 Influenza Pandemic . Put simply, medics found that severely ill flu patients nursed outdoors recovered better than those treated indoors. A combination of fresh air and sunlight seems to have prevented deaths among patients; and infections among medical staff. `Open-Air’ Treatment in 1918 During the great pandemic, two of the worst places to be were military barracks and troop-ships. Overcrowding and bad ventilation put soldiers and sailors at high risk of catching influenza and the other infections that often followed it.[2,3] As with the current Covid-19 outbreak, most of the victims of so-called `Spanish flu’ did not die from influenza: they died of pneumonia and other complications.

[DouglasKC]

Can you name any of the pandemics (or even epidemics) of the past hundred years in which “nothing” was done?

Nope.

Then can you name a single outbreak in that same timeframe where the entire country has effectively been shut down before now?

Nope. What's the point?

[Calif Conservative]

If you are referring to FearRepublic, yes there are a lot of posters on these boards who are definitely rooting for the virus.

[SoCal Pubbie]

Overreaction, that’s the point.

[DouglasKC]

Overreaction, that’s the point.

Nonsense. Virtually EVERY doctor, immunologist, virologist and epidemiologist in the WORLD agreed on what needed to be done. President Trump himself has said countless times that this is an unprecedented occurrence in history...that this virus is an invisible enemy and needs to be defeated no matter what it takes to avoid massive death and suffering. VP Pence believes the same thing. EVERYONE on the Trump team is of the same mind.

So I can listen to everyone who are already doing and have done things to slow down the spread to avoid our medical systems from getting overwhelmed...OR...I can listen to a bunch of internet nut jobs who think this whole thing is a worldwide hoax. I'll stand with President Trump.

[FreedomPoster]

UV killed flu viruses and the sunlight helped patient vitamin D levels.

[glennaro]

I don’t think they’re rooting for the flu; rather, I think they just need the constant reassurance provided by the hysterical media and by social media that their panic and their failure to see beyond the general hysteria the enormous damage the “cure” is doing to America (and to Americans) is justified. I do think these liberty-loving, patriotic Americans sense the far greater damage being done to our country by those who are using the Chinese flu outbreak to “fundamentally transform the United States of America” but have become paralyzed by their fear of this disease.

[Shethink13]

Yes, flu can be deadly. We also have been dealing with that virus for many years and substantial amount of the public is immune to it through vaccine - including our healthcare workers - so it isn’t nearly as deadly nor as contagious as this. The two are not in any way comparable, and it is ridiculous to continue to act as though they are.

The public is immune to the flu because of vaccine? How come there are so many cases every year then?

[higgmeister]

I understood what she meant.   She means your words were too excessive and you should rein it in a notch or two.

Or you could change your handle to over3Owithabrainbutnofilter.  Just be more polite I think.

[SoCal Pubbie]

Actually, that’s not exactly what he said. “We can’t have the cure be worse than the problem.” I’ll stand with President Trump.

[trebb]

Gosh, CBS packed a lot into such a small space...makes watching the daily Task Force briefings even more important to keep some perspective and not live by the “Boo!” stories.

[spintreebob]

Grady has close ties with all the hospital chains. All the hospital chains steer the cases they do not want to Grady.

(Apart from the water damage) Grady has often been a parking lot where patients are hoteled until rehab beds openn up somewhere. Grady patients/beds often receive no treatment, no therapy, they are just hoteled.

Emory and others do not have the capacity to handle all the rehab patients. For many years they have requested of HFR permission to build new facilities for rehab and HFR has denied ... and told them to don’t even ask.

Over regulation is a major player is the total number of hospital beds, with rehab patients using beds intended for other types of patients.

Of course, Medicare/Medicaid... and even privatae insurance are more than willing to pay for patients to be parked in hospital beds. To them, it is more important to over regulate and let everyone know who is in charge, than to run an efficient system.

[Codeflier]

One of the big errors you panic pushers make is conflating flu bros with being unprepared. I have prepped for years, and probably more so than most on FR. The main reason I prep is because I know how frightened and panicky people like you get whenever there is a shock to the system.

[tomkat]

Though loathe to quote FDR, ‘the only thing we have to fear is fear itself’ sprung to mind upon reading your post this morning.
I keep saying that there’s prudence, which is wise, and then there’s panic, which is paralytic.
As with most every other national issue, the enemedia is gleefully fanning the flames of the latter, and for the moment it seems to be working with too large a segment of our population.
While they’re repugnant, seditious bastards and control the vast majority of the airwaves, our main hope is that the common sense of our more rational citizens will eventually prevail.
In the midst of this fustercluck, we’re very fortunate to have someone like Trump at the helm with perspective and mostly good judgement.
But it takes more than a sane leader to keep a ship of state afloat.
The many millions of Americans out here in flyover who keep this machine running day by day simply must not lose heart and give in to the fear mongering.
I believe we’ll do it because we’ve done it before and, away from the urban cesspools, the competent sailors on this ship don’t want it to sink.

/.02

[BobL]

Great to hear! But one question, though. Have you prepped for the aftermath - when we start finding out what was really in those containers which are no longer sailing here from China? That’s an area of prepping that I hadn’t considered in the past, and what I’ve spent most of my recent time dealing with (and where I’ve spent the most money).

[Justa]

“Have you prepped for the aftermath - when we start finding out what was really in those containers which are no longer sailing here from China? That’s an area of prepping that I hadn’t considered in the past, and what I’ve spent most of my recent time dealing with (and where I’ve spent the most money).”

Ok, so you’ve been prepping and spending money in response to the possible contents of shipping containers which are no longer sailing from China?

Right.

Got it.

Good call. /S

[Jimmy The Snake]

Yup - The St. Elsewhere of Atlanta. If you went in the night before and elective surgery, your surgery would get cancelled for a Staph infection.

[BobL]

“Right.

Got it.

Good call.”

Thanks!

[poconopundit]

I did some more reading on this and it looks like fake news.

[daniel1212]

UV killed flu viruses and the sunlight helped patient vitamin D levels.

Yes, and what I just noticed in that photograph - which has very good quality despite its age - is that there is a good amount of snow on the ground (see background).