作为一个历史性的冬天暴风雨德州断电,水管爆裂,孤星州的医院面临着额外的压力。
德克萨斯州东南地区咨询委员会副主席洛里·厄普顿告诉美国广播公司新闻,已经在与新冠肺炎患者竞争的医院,现在正在帮助那些补充氧气瓶用完的人,或者那些家庭医疗设备需要电力并且现在必须在急诊科寻求电力的人。
德克萨斯州东南部地区咨询委员会覆盖了该州的187家医院和25个县,并帮助提供者、响应者和医疗保健合作伙伴之间进行协调。
厄普顿说,随着电力供应的减少,人们转向医院寻求他们习惯在家使用的东西,比如需要电池充电的饲管或外部除颤器。
她说,截至周三,约800人因氧气或电力设备问题被关押在急诊科。
周四下午,德克萨斯州超过450,000名客户仍然断电。根据德克萨斯州环境质量委员会的数据,德克萨斯州900多个公共供水系统和164个县报告称,由于天气原因,服务中断,影响了1360多万人。
加尔维斯顿市长克雷格·布朗周四告诉《早安美国》,由于水管爆裂,该市医院“缺水严重”。他说,现在他们已经能够给油箱加满油了,他们已经恢复运行了。
布朗称电力和水危机“比飓风还要糟糕”。
“在飓风中,你可以去大陆,远离这里。在这种特殊的情况下,无论你去德克萨斯州的什么地方,你仍然有一个和我们这里相似的担忧,”他说。
在休斯顿,医院正在运行,但许多医院已经降低了水压,美国广播公司休斯顿站KTRK报道。
奥斯汀地区的两家医院也面临停水,美国广播公司附属公司KVUE报道。
沸水建议在休斯顿和奥斯汀发行。
还有结冰的道路问题,这使得救护车运送病人和医院工作人员安全到达轮班地点变得更加危险。
达拉斯和沃思堡的医疗城医疗保健医院“为数百名同事提供住宿和食物,以确保工作人员不必在危险的道路上行驶,并且可以提供患者护理,”医院发言人在一份声明中说。“我们整个系统有数百名同事在医院过夜。太了不起了。每个人都加入进来。我们的领导和办公室同事正在从酒店和家里接同事,换床单,送餐。”
单击此处关于停电时保持安全的提示单击此处学习如何在沸水咨询期间保证水的安全。
Texas' power outages, water shortages put bigger strain on hospitals
As a historic winter storm knocks out power and bursts pipes across Texas, hospitals in the lone star state are facing additional stress.
Hospitals, already contending with COVID-19 patients, are now helping people whose supplemental oxygen tanks have run out, or those whose home medical equipment requires electricity and must now seek power in emergency departments, Lori Upton, vice president of the Southeast Texas Regional Advisory Council, told ABC News.
The Southeast Texas Regional Advisory Council covers 187 hospitals and 25 counties in the state and helps coordinate between providers, responders and health care partners.
With power out and supplies running thin, people are turning to hospitals for what they're accustomed to getting homebound, like a feeding tube or an external defibrillator that needs batteries to recharge, Upton said.
As of Wednesday, about 800 people were being held in emergency departments for oxygen or electricity for their equipment, she said.
Over 450,000 customers in Texas remained without power Thursday afternoon. More than 900 public water systems and 164 counties in Texas have reported disruptions in service due to the weather, affecting more than 13.6 million people, according to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
Galveston Mayor Craig Brown told "Good Morning America" Thursday that the city's hospital "ran dangerously low on water" due to burst pipes. Now that they've been able to refill the tanks, they're back up and running, he said.
Brown called the electricity and water crisis "worse than a hurricane."
"In a hurricane you can go to the mainland and get away from this. In this particular situation, no matter where you go in Texas, you still have a concern that is similar to what we have here," he said.
In Houston, hospitals are operating but many have reduced water pressure, ABC Houston station KTRK reported.
Two Austin area hospitals have also faced water outages, ABC affiliate KVUE reported.
Boil water advisories were issued in Houston and Austin.
There's also the issue of icy roadways, making it more treacherous for ambulances to transport patients and for hospital workers to get to their shifts safety.
Medical City Healthcare hospitals in Dallas and Fort Worth have "provided lodging and food for hundreds of colleagues to assure staff would not have to travel on dangerous roads and would be available to provide patient care," a hospital spokesperson said in a statement. "We’ve had hundreds of colleagues stay overnight in our hospitals across our system. It’s remarkable. Everyone is pitching in. Our leaders and office colleagues are are picking up colleagues from hotels and homes, changing linens, delivering meals."
Click here for tips to stay safe during a power outage and click here to learn how to keep your water safe during a boil water advisory.