New York paramedics ordered not to resuscitate patients with no pulse amid Covid-19 case overload
Health officials in New York issued extreme guidelines last week, directing paramedics to not attempt to resuscitate anyone found without a pulse. The controversial decision was taken amid hospitals overloaded with coronavirus infected patients in the region. The state currently has 251,000 Covid-19 cases, and nearly 15,000 have died because of the deadly infection.
The state first responders were reportedly instructed previously to spend up to 20 minutes trying to revive people found in cardiac arrest, according to the New York Post. A New York Health Department memo released last week, however, altered the guidelines, stating that the changes were "necessary during the Covid-19 response to protect the health and safety of EMS providers by limiting their exposure, conserve resources, and ensure optimal use of equipment to save the greatest number of lives."
The directive has sparked outrage from first responders across New York, with some saying not attempting to resuscitate people was akin to not giving them a second chance at life. The head of New York City's union which represents EMTs and paramedics, Oren Barzilay, in a statement, said, "They're not giving people a second chance to live anymore. Our job is to bring patients back to life. This guideline takes that away from us."
A veteran New York City Fire Department (NYFD) Emergency Medical Services worker, said, "Now you don't get 20 minutes of CPR if you have no rhythm," he said referring to the protocol generally taken by first responders after arriving at the scene. "They simply let you die," he added. The paramedic, however, added that "a small percentage" of the people without a pulse are brought back to life through CPR and other intervention methods.
The percentage amounts to three of four out of 100 people, but "for those 3 or 4 people, it’s a big deal," the worker said.
The FDNY, after the release of the state health department memo, released a letter on Friday, April 17, stating that the "the NYC 911 system will continue to maintain a higher level of care." However, despite the outrage, the state health department insisted that the new guidelines issued by them have already been in use "in many areas of the US as well as other locations throughout the world."
A department representative, in a statement released to The Post, said, "These changes are based on standards widely agreed upon by the physician leaders of EMS Regional Medical Control Systems across NYS and the Medical Standards Committee of the State Emergency Medical Services Advisory Council."
The novel coronavirus cases in the United States have reached over 820,000 with over 42,000 people succumbing to the deadly virus. New York City, considered the epicenter of Covid-19 in the country, has had the most number of deaths areawise at 14,887 as of Wednesday, April 22. The city hospitals are inundated with dying coronavirus patients where there are frequently no ICU beds available for other patients.
Covid-19 does not have a cure yet and no coronavirus vaccine has yet been released in the world market.