LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The surge in COVID-19 cases is now impacting ambulance services in Arkansas. If you make a call to 911, you might have to wait a little longer than usual.
“We have a system that lets us know this is a life-threatening call, it’s going to get the ambulance first,” said Greg Thompson, executive director of MEMS.
Thompson said they’ve seen a record call volume at MEMS.
Typically, they transfer 200 patients a day, now it’s closer to 300, and with hospitals at capacity, it’s causing delays in EMS response times.
“There’s not always an available bed, and the hospitals are doing everything they can to help us, but it takes time and so many times we are left standing on the wall as we call it waiting on a bed,” said Thompson.
Thompson said not often do they result to using its priority call list, typically it’s used during mass casualties.
“COVID-19 has pushed us in a place where we have never been before,” said Thompson. “I’ve been doing EMS now for 30 years, and I have never seen anything like this.”
MEMS serves much of central Arkansas, but Thompson said this problem goes beyond the metro, and that it’s happening state-wide.
As a community, we can help combat this issue.
“What we need people to understand is if you need that ambulance, we want to respond to you and take care of you,” said Thompson. “But, if it’s a call that could be better handled by your family physician or urgent care, I think right now we just need to be smart about where we seek our care.”