As of April 1 NYC the guide lines for EMS medical tech is unable to get your heart beetling is to not bring the senior to ER because they are overwhelmed with virus patients. You know that without the 's doctor's urgent cardiology code ER response the senior will die. Myself having weak heart that means I will die. If the Medical tech. is not able to revive me
. What are feeling about this.
I'm younger than you. I have bad lungs. I've told my DH I want another 20 yrs, to see the kids fully grown up but if it's not to be, it's not to be. I've had a lot of fun, done some crazy stuff, I'm pretty happy. I'm doing yoga for exercise & relaxation, eating OK & minimising going out. That's within my control.
Good health wishes to you.
In other words... Don't think about it.
https://www.agingcare.com/discussions/as-of-april-2nd-today-ems-medical-teams-unable-revive-a-patient-with-a-heart-attack-on-the-call-they-457741.htm
I worked for an EMS Agency as a database analyst (I'm absolutely not a EMS expert), so you'd think I would know these numbers, but I was doing something else, so I'll be honest and say that I only "know" this stuff in a general sense.
I, suspect, in most of the cases they are talking about, the survival rate is actually pretty low. I believe it's only around 10 to 15 percent of people who leave a hospital after cardiac arrest (heart stops) Probably even in some of those cases they do so with broken ribs, are pretty beat up, may need hospitalization and never really recover full functioning.
I couldn't find the exact guidelines, but it read like they would try, and if they couldn't, then they move on. It's not unreasonable in their situation.
Hospitalization creates a second problem: exposure for the patient to Covid-19. Meaning they could get sick with a broken heart, which means those survival numbers are going to be even lower. The sub problem to this is the risk to the EMT's / Paramedics. I suspect they've been decimated in New York.
I was part of a different side, response times, and I can tell you that there was a lot of discussion about the rapid response you read about it. There have been studies that show that instead of rushing to a call, more lives could be saved by going slower.
A few other things to keep in mind. We see survivors, almost always heart attacks, so we think people are always saved when they aren't. There's survivor bias. Second, media typically shows the heroic saves. Third, there's a lot of money in EMS and it perverts some of the incumbents in ways you might not expect. I won't go into that but racing to an incident is important to some agencies in ways you might not think about at first glance. Ways that aren't crucial to saving lives because the vast majority of EMS responses don't need a rapid response, and even when there is a rapid response, like in this case, it doesn't make that much of a difference. Choking, Strokes, on the other hand...
Anyways, take this for what it's worth from someone who was in the field, on the sidelines, very briefly.
doctors have bragged for decades about their training conditioning them to handle a situation just like this. So if they are trained why are they saying they can't handle the work load.
A heart attack needs attention right now. A life could be saved.
From what I have heard , a patient with codiv-19 care is not as immediate as a heart attack.
I just heard that no illness is to be taken into the ER. Leave them at home and let nature takes its course.
That is the same thing that hospice says. That is let them die.
Wishing you good health and long life
God bless our medical community and all the superhuman efforts they are putting forth for all of us. Give them strength and courage to keep up the fight as this virus worsens in the coming weeks.
According to my quick internet research, in your age group, 65-74, out of 10,000 people, 66 will have heart attacks, that is 0.66%, a very small chance. I know you mention you have a weak heart, so let's not get all worked up, it's bad for you. You should focus on other positive things. Don't know what else is going on in your life, but you shouldn't focus on worrying about having a heart attack. You don't want that to become a self-fulfilling prophecy.