Dixie Regional Medical Center Reaches ICU Capacity
Well, Almost.
Over this past week, doctor’s at Dixie Regional Medical Center faced several troubling moments where the prospect of opening up a ‘surge ICU’ almost became necessary. In fact, as we report on this today, the likelihood of this actually happening is becoming more and more possible as Utah sees new record-breaking numbers daily. The Surge Continues as Utah reports 578 new cases and another death in St. George.
In a news conference held last Friday, Dr. Patrick Carrol, DRMC’s Chief Medical Director pled with those in attendance to reach out to our community and help people understand the true urgency and need when it comes to social distancing, wearing masks in public and practicing common sense when it comes to interacting with others.
Washington County recently surpassed 1000 Covid-19 cases a few days ago and local doctors believe we will exceed 1250 cases by the 4th of July. The state now has almost 21,000 positive cases. To put this into perspective, on June 1st, there were 10,000 cases in Utah with just 374 in Washington County and on May 1st there were only 4,800 cases in Utah and 65 in Washington County. With over 1000 cases now in Washington County, that’s almost a 300% jump in cases over the last 30 days. If things don’t change, at this rate, there will be over 40,000 cases in Utah by the end of July and over 2500 cases here in southern Utah. If we don’t start taking things just a little more seriously, our hospitals will be stretched beyond capacity as we desperately try to attend to those needing critical care.
This isn’t just a maybe and if we don’t all come together quickly, St. George, Utah could be the next New York.
Dr. Angela Dunn, the state’s epidemiologist, issued the direst warnings yet and urged all residents to wear a mask in public, whether it’s required or not. Without a “large-scale behavior change on the part of all Utahns to reverse this trend,” she said, death counts and hospitalizations are sure to rise.
As of today, there are over 200 Covid-19 patients in a hospital bed throughout Utah. This, during a time when local leaders believe we should be moved to green.
Washington County Commissioner Gil Almquist recently said, “I believe that classification, (green level), would apply to Washington County, It doesn’t mean we’re not going to stand 6 feet apart or not take precautions, or mean Plexiglas shields are coming down. Businesses can still do what they think is safe.”
The problem is, we’re NOT all standing 6 feet apart and we’re NOT all wearing our masks.
County Commissioner Victor Iverson even took a more ridged stand by adding he will never wear a mask. “I think its time to get back to normal,” Iverson said. “Our citizens want to be free. And we’re done. We’re just done with whatever color they want to put up. We want to go back to red, white and blue. Let us worry about our health.”
Recently, as first reported by St. George News this past week, Dr. Angela Dunn, the state epidemiologist with the Utah Department of Health said “Washington County may see stricter health guidelines reinstated if case numbers don’t start to go down”.
She continued, “When looking at your (southern Utah’s) case trajectory, we’re in that last window where we can control it without extreme measures,” Dunn said following a report that residents at two assisted living facilities in St. George – The Wentworth at the Meadows and St. George Rehabilitation – had developed COVID-19 cases despite strict measures to keep the virus out. (There are now cases in at least three assisted living facilities)
Dunn released the following statement last Saturday: “These numbers are sobering. For three straight weeks now our cases have been increasing at a rate that isn’t sustainable. We are at risk for overwhelming our hospital capacity, which could result in Utahns not getting the medical care they need. The only explanation for this increase in cases is that we are experiencing a real and a dramatic rise in the spread of COVID-19 across our state”.
So now we fast forward to just two days ago on Friday, eight of us sat there and saw the look on Dr. Carroll’s face when he said: “We Need Your Help”.
If all of this isn’t enough to take in, “there’s more you need to understand” Dr. Carroll urged. “Beds are not our only concern, staffing is nearing capacity at Dixie Regional as well”. While the hospital isn’t running out of ventilators, it did almost run out of qualified staff capable of operating them.
“Earlier this week, our number of ventilated patients started to approach the limit for our respiratory team,” Carroll said. “We have enough ventilators, but we would have needed to look at contingency staffing. Not to worry though, Intermountain has a number of hospitals so if Dixie becomes overwhelmed, we can send patients to other hospitals”.
That means you might have to travel, or not be able to see your loved ones at all should they fall ill and our local facilities are full.
The bottom line is this “We need your help. I hope what I’ve projected doesn’t happen,” Carroll said. “With the help of the community, we might be able to avoid it.”
Dr. Carroll also reported that 1% of those being tested are asymptomatic, meaning they are believed to be completely healthy since they are not experiencing any symptoms. That’s one for every 100 people tested coming back as positive. What this ultimately means is that every time you walk into a grocery store or show up to an event or activity where there are 100 or more people, statistically, at least one person you meet, see, or interact with has COVID.
To everyone within reach of this update, please consider the alternatives when deciding whether or not to wear a mask or keep some distance between you and the person in front of you. It will most certainly make a difference.
Let the 2nd great pandemic rush of 2020 on toilet paper and sanitizer begin again…
A very selfish reason to wear a mask – Ever wonder why many young doctors and nurses died in China? VIRAL DOSAGE. A sneeze = 1 billion+ / A tiny droplet = < million. Wearing a mask obviously reduces qty of viral intake. This expands time to allow the human immune system to fight back and produce antibodies rather than being overrun. Thus less likely to get a severe case AND MOST IMPORTANTLY AVOID 6 and yes folks, even 7 figure hospital bills. $$$$. BE SELFISH WEAR A MASK
Why are you using a stock photo from an ICU in Wuhan? While I don’t doubt the accuracy of the printed dialogue, the picture does not lend itself to credence. While the virus doesn’t discriminate based on race, using a picture that shows a completely different set up from our hospitals doesn’t inspire confidence in your reporting.
Thank you for taking the time to comment Rebekah,
The picture isn’t the story, it’s a visual aid to get people to think. It’s not a ‘stock’ photo like some have said on Facebook, it’s a photo distributed by Reuters and frankly, it’s about time we started to see what life was like in China so we can take the necessary precautions and steps required to ensure we don’t end up in the same situation they did. If all you have to complain about is a picture, I’d say we’re not doing too bad when it comes to making people think twice before they toss an attitude out with regards to the simple, respectful act, of wearing a mask until the numbers are clearly in our favor. Have a wonderful week and stay safe out there.
James, as a fellow journalist I have to call you out on this. It is not in your role as a reporter to use a visual aid; that’s for a presenter penning an editorial. As a reporter you are charged with presenting the FACTS. It is NOT your role to espouse a particular position. It is not your job to MAKE people think. That’s our role as readers. And then we make our decision as to how to act. It’s NOT your decision or role to try to make us act a certain way.
Shame on you and shame on whoever was your journalism professor in school (if you went to journalism school. I graduated over 40 years ago from mine).
Robb, God bless you for calling this out, this sort of “journalism” is far from how it should be! These photos should not be used, and yet, they are! The sad truth is, I’ve got several relatives living in the part of China where this picture was taken and I’ve seen pictures from these hospitals that show just the opposite, far less sick, far less dieing. It makes me wonder how many other “journalist” around the globe use these almost propaganda, sensational photos to get people to abide by their beliefs.
County commissioner Iverson needs to get out of here right now!
Dear Rebekah, I am not going to pile on, but do note the letter regarding masks in the SG News today that was practically signed by probably every Doctor in town was mysteriously not posted on their twitter feed. Why? Hmmm. Please take time to read that letter to the editor. Then if you want to do a great thing, convince 3 people you know to wear masks that may have issues, and ask them in turn to convince 3 more if and when you succeed Use the info in my post above to help elicit your point. We need to turn the tide of ignorance. Also hunting gators and bandanas work when the BUT what about CO2 diatribe comes up. Good luck
Oh, believe me, we wear masks. My youngest is the poster child for not doing well with this virus. He has been oxygen and ventilator dependent for most of his 10 years. It would kill him. My teen boys are prepared to wear them to school in the fall, even if no one else is. My adult boys wear N95 masks at work even though they don’t live at home because they’re so aware of what can happen if they catch it, or spread it to someone who may not even realize they’re at risk. And oh, my, I’m very familiar with what CO2 retention looks like, and this ain’t it! (again, my youngest)
This type of “reporting” is part of why so many people don’t trust the media. Mr. McFadden would have been better off avoiding his false headline, Wuhan photo and hyperbole. Stick with the facts.
Using this picture is not only misleading, but is downright deceptive. It should at the very LEAST be captioned. Whomever made the decision to use this picture should be ashamed. This is why so many people dismiss the seriousness of Covid, because they can no longer trust even their local new sources.
I’ve got to chime in. I am an on the fence-er about Covid. When I see the numbers rise but see none of my friends or acquaintances getting sick, I doubt what is being reported. Then I see this not at all local photo attached to a ‘report’ about local events and I doubt even more.
I don’t know what to believe and, thanks to your photo choice, I doubt that it’s this article.
Dolly go read the letter from practically every doctor in Wa County published a week after your post in the SG news. Will that help. Or how about this.
https://ksltv.com/441041/husband-of-nurse-fighting-for-life-in-icu/
Dolly if you still dont believe after the info provided then I guess you are entitled to your opinion.
So very sad that far too many Americans are so gullible that they automatically believe someone just because they’re a doctor. Fact: Even the best quality masks out there, have holes – when magnified that are hundreds of times larger than a virus…so wearing one and actually believing it’s helping you is no different than wearing cheesecloth to protect you in a sandstorm. Facts…they always, always out-trump opinions.