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"Collapsing" is a serious overstatement.

by pwned1 5y ago

vkou 5y ago
How else would you describe a situation if ICU beds in your area are full? [1] Do you think a bed will appear for you, if you get into a serious car accident? Will you even want to be going to the hospital for chemotherapy, right now (And that's assuming the oncologists are actually doing their jobs, instead of treating COVID patients)? To the doctor's office for some routine care, if you have a vulnerable person in your household? Hospital beds and doctors aren't Kubernetes containers. You can't simply spin more up based on a demand surge. [1] https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/covid-hospitals-near-you.html https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/covid-hospitals-...
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
runako 5y ago
The trauma center emergency room in my state is diverting patients to less-capable facilities. Elective surgeries (such as for cancer and other life-threatening conditions) are being cancelled. All of this is happening in states representing perhaps a third of the US population. Not being able to get lifesaving cancer removal surgery is the state of affairs that people colloquially mean when say a medical system is "collapsing."
- JumpCrisscross 5y ago
  > Not being able to get lifesaving cancer removal surgery is the state of affairs that people colloquially mean when say a medical system is "collapsing." Rural medical systems in places with low vaccination rates are collapsing. The American health system, broadly, is not. Being relocated to a smaller hospital is not good; collapse is being denied altogether. (EDIT: Was not aware that parts of the country are, in fact, seeing collapse.)
  - eropple 5y ago
    > collapse is being denied altogether Yeah, that's happening too. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-us-hospital-icu-bed-shortage-veteran-dies-treatable-illness/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-us-hospital-icu-bed-short... Bellville is 30 miles outside of Houston. It's not "rural".
  - runako 5y ago
    I live in one of the top 10 largest American cities (our metro population is, roughly, larger than all European cities except Moscow and London). > Being relocated to a smaller hospital is not good The rural hospitals in our state have effectively been in collapse for months, using our major metro city hospitals as a backstop. There is no relocation to smaller hospitals, there is only cancellation of lifesaving treatments. The backstop has failed. I am aware of this happening in other very large cities in America as well.

"Collapsing" is a serious overstatement.

by pwned1 5y ago

"Collapsing" is a serious overstatement.

vkou 5y ago

How else would you describe a situation if ICU beds in your area are full? [1] Do you think a bed will appear for you, if you get into a serious car accident? Will you even want to be going to the hospital for chemotherapy, right now (And that's assuming the oncologists are actually doing their jobs, instead of treating COVID patients)? To the doctor's office for some routine care, if you have a vulnerable person in your household? Hospital beds and doctors aren't Kubernetes containers. You can't simply spin more up based on a demand surge. [1] https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/covid-hospitals-near-you.html https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/covid-hospitals-...

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

runako 5y ago

The trauma center emergency room in my state is diverting patients to less-capable facilities. Elective surgeries (such as for cancer and other life-threatening conditions) are being cancelled. All of this is happening in states representing perhaps a third of the US population. Not being able to get lifesaving cancer removal surgery is the state of affairs that people colloquially mean when say a medical system is "collapsing."

JumpCrisscross 5y ago
> Not being able to get lifesaving cancer removal surgery is the state of affairs that people colloquially mean when say a medical system is "collapsing." Rural medical systems in places with low vaccination rates are collapsing. The American health system, broadly, is not. Being relocated to a smaller hospital is not good; collapse is being denied altogether. (EDIT: Was not aware that parts of the country are, in fact, seeing collapse.)
- eropple 5y ago
  > collapse is being denied altogether Yeah, that's happening too. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-us-hospital-icu-bed-shortage-veteran-dies-treatable-illness/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-us-hospital-icu-bed-short... Bellville is 30 miles outside of Houston. It's not "rural".
- runako 5y ago
  I live in one of the top 10 largest American cities (our metro population is, roughly, larger than all European cities except Moscow and London). > Being relocated to a smaller hospital is not good The rural hospitals in our state have effectively been in collapse for months, using our major metro city hospitals as a backstop. There is no relocation to smaller hospitals, there is only cancellation of lifesaving treatments. The backstop has failed. I am aware of this happening in other very large cities in America as well.