SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Frustration is building among Sacramento first responders as ambulances crowd outside hospital emergency departments for as long as eight hours waiting for a bed to open up.
It comes at a time when hospitals are facing huge demand and staffing shortages as a result of the most recent wave of COVID-19.
But, first responders say, it's an ongoing problem that's been occurring for ten years, only exacerbated by the pandemic.
"We're just now at an unsustainable level," said Sacramento Fire Department Public Information Officer Keith Wade.
When an ambulance arrives at an emergency department without capacity to take on more patients, paramedics and EMTs wait "on the wall," sometimes in the hallway with the patient laying on a gurney awaiting transfer.
On Tuesday, ABC10 observed multiple ambulances waiting outside at Sutter Medical Center, Mercy General Hospital, and UC Davis Health. Wade said the eight ambulances parked outside at UC Davis Health were all waiting to offload patients into the emergency department.
"They essentially have to just stand there and wait, sometimes eight hours, for a bed, to transfer that patient," Wade said. "In the meanwhile, patient care is suffering out in the field."
With so many resources stuck "on the wall," there are fewer ambulances available to respond to 911 calls. Patients are frustrated by long waits at the hospital as well.
"It's really been exacerbated over the last several weeks or months from that standpoint. We know it’s been a problem in the past but not to this extent," said Kevin Smothers, Chief Medical Executive at Sutter Medical Center.
Smothers said area hospitals have discussed bringing in more paramedics to help or sending ambulances to urgent care clinics to help ease the backlog.
"This is more than just hospitals and fire departments trying to solve it, it’s much greater than what we can do," Smothers said. "So we need help politically in order to get the resources we need to provide those services within the community."
With a new wave of COVID, some first responders fear the situation will get worse before it gets better.
"We hope something can get fixed. We’re going to continue going out the door and running these calls; it’s just a big frustrating problem for everyone involved," Wade said.
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