In Brevard County, Florida, Fire Rescue Chief Mark Schollmeyer said ambulances are taking longer because they’re not able to hand off patients to hospital staff as quickly because many emergency rooms are already full.
County officials are asking that residents “use 9-1-1 sparingly for non-emergent issues and to save the ambulances and ER trips for those who urgently need those services,” Schollmeyer said in a statement on Monday.
“Just being COVID positive but asymptomatic does not always make it a life-threatening emergent condition requiring a trip to the ER,” the chief added. “We ask people to take advantage of your primary care physician, telemedicine or urgent care and leave emergency room and ambulance trips for those with life threatening or serious emergencies.”
Brevard’s seven-day average for new Covid-19 cases jumped nearly 10% while new hospitalization admissions increased by nearly 15% this week, according to CDC data.
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