Down so much that there is talk of decreasing coverage hours...
Anyone else having this problem?
I added a poll.
Anyone else having this problem?
I added a poll.
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I'm curious as to ED volumes during this time, also. Like I posted on the other thread, my non-ED multi-specialty group (40+ providers in- & outpatient) is down so much we're going to a 4 day work week, have instituted a freeze on wage increases and are considering lay-offs, not due to the virus, but due to the response to the virus. And it's not because we're not "on the front lines" of dealing with this virus. We are; we're seeing these patients and testing. In fact, most of these patients are outpatients, not ED patients, and not critically ill or dying. But we're far from "overwhelmed." In fact, it's the exact opposite.
It seems NYC and Seattle are the epicenter for this, here in the States. Can anyone from NYC or Seattle chime in, on your volume and what the status of your department is?
Where are my CHFers, my COPDers, my septic patients, my MIs?????? This is scary. Are my patients dying at home? Is this virus causing these patients to stay home and die?
No
They are staying home because their symptoms are mild
Where are my CHFers, my COPDers, my septic patients, my MIs?????? This is scary. Are my patients dying at home? Is this virus causing these patients to stay home and die?
Where are my CHFers, my COPDers, my septic patients, my MIs?????? This is scary. Are my patients dying at home? Is this virus causing these patients to stay home and die?
I am in AZ. Our ER volume is significantly down. Essentially each day is a little less busy than it is on Christmas.
At our smaller hospital, where we have one PA (like me) and one doc on at a time, I have been seeing about one patient per hour. At that hospital there have been times when there are ZERO in the entire ER. The other night I got sent home almost three hours early. Honestly it’s easily manageable with just a doc so they don’t really need a PA on. The larger hospital we work at is quite a bit more busy than the smaller hospital but still probably a 40 - 50 percent drop in census. Yesterday at one time we had two docs and two PAs on, and everyone had between two and four active patients at one time.
We had added some optional “extra” shifts for the PAs and docs for the winter and spring months because that’s when we are busiest. Because the volume is so low, the shifts have been cancelled until further notice. Kinda sucks for those who were counting on the extra dough, but luckily these were “extra” shifts and our core hours haven’t been cut. Although this could be on the horizon judging by how things are going.
This is still a pay cut, though, because we make a significant amount of money based on RVUs. My RVUs end up being about 35 percent of my take home pay, so it sucks when volume is down this much. Adds insult to injury. Working without proper PPE, being blasted by COVID-19 emails at ALL hours of the night, and taking a massive pay cut. Fun times!
The drop in volume is wild. Unexpected. Family and friends text me and ask me if I am okay with work being so crazy because the media is painting this picture of us being in a war zone. Everyone is saying this is the calm before the storm. Hard to know if they’re right.
Volume is down, acuity is up.
So all these overwhelmed, stressed, madmen doctors that the news keeps showing are from the same 3 hospitals or something?
Our system is the same, cutting hours. The CMG I work PRN at is the same, cutting hours.
Our main site I would see somewhere around 30 patients in a shift, and the last shift I worked it was 4 hours between seeing patients looooooool
Our volumes are down.
I work at a 20 bed critical access hospital, and six beds are already filled with COVID patients. So, I imagine we will be quite busy in the weeks to come.
We are also seeing a ton of kid injuries since parents just won't supervise their kids now that school is out.
If you're in the US I assume you live somewhere non coastal and somewhat ruralish? It seems like COVID hasn't broken into the middle of the country yet the way it has on the coasts.I am seeing the same amount as usual, including a six month old who had a rash for 10 minutes prior to arrival in the ED.
Yep. Like I mentioned on another thread, if you look at the social media accounts of our staff right now you'd think our hospital was in a war zone. The reality is we're all getting our hours cut because it's a ghost town. People want to look and feel important, and will do and say all kinds of things to make that happen. It's like that friend you know on Facebook who is actually depressed and broke, but constantly publishes pictures of their smiling "perfect" family on yet another vacation. That's why there are all these tenth hand accounts of "my husband's cousin's nephew's mailman's dog groomer knows a guy who knows a guy who's a nurse in NYC who says it's so bad that 50% of their healthcare staff has gotten Covid and died!!" Yet then you look at the actual national numbers and go wait, total deaths are still under 1000, I don't get it?
So all these overwhelmed, stressed, madmen doctors that the news keeps showing are from the same 3 hospitals or something?
Our system is the same, cutting hours. The CMG I work PRN at is the same, cutting hours.
Our main site I would see somewhere around 30 patients in a shift, and the last shift I worked it was 4 hours between seeing patients looooooool
Would be interesting to read about, is there a source for this?
Don't have a source from you, heard from a colleague i trained with who is working there. His words:
'We have been unbelievably hit hard. We have twice as many patients as University of Michigan and we are just a community hospital. 63 vented patients. 32 confirmed positives. 75 pending results, 1 vent left right now."
Scary.
Seriously? Why do you say that?Quit.
Would be interesting to read about, is there a source for this?
It is frustrating as hell, isn't it? On this thread I have posted and linked countless peer review articles supporting my positions, New England Journal of Medicine, clinical trials, Virology Departments, CDC data, Nobel Laureates, Journal of Science, data on viral growth patterns, Medscape, Johns Hopkins along with my reasoning.Scary, but I'd really like actual statistics and not anecdotes.
2019-2020 US Deaths
Influenza: >8,000 (including >50 children)
Coronavirus: 0
-CDC
Next up: People are going to start testing for coronavirus in the millions, and it's going to unjustifiably create a panic-generating spike in positive cases, not due to new and rapidly spreading infections, but simply by them finding the thousands of pre-existing cases we didn't know were spreading around, causing mostly benign colds and "flu-like" viral illnesses. Wait for it. It'll be in the news in about a week and it won't be a sign of The End of Days, but if fact the opposite. They'll be finding the virus was benign enough (99.9% of the time) to be spreading around without us even knowing it all along.
In addition to your rigorous journal quotations...you have also posted gems such as:
2019-2020 US Deaths
Influenza: >8,000 (including >50 children)
Coronavirus: 0
-CDC
Influenza: 23,000-59,000 deaths (149 children, season, 5 children, past week)
COVID-19: 1,001 deaths (1 child, which now they're saying may not be due to COVID-19.)
Yes, we all know of the news reports of NY having a lot of coronavirus cases and that they're getting slammed. I've posted multiple articles, including a big one yesterday with multiple pictures on the "What do I need to know about coronavirus" thread, railing De Blasio for not busting up virus-spreading crowds right outside his mansion window. I've posted the CDC stats and virus-tracker (Johns Hopkins) numbers multiple times which document New York's case numbers. I'm aware of what's going on in New York. I know they're getting slammed. I know Trump ordered a 1,000 bed hospital ship to New York harbor as well as 4,000 more vents. So, I'm not sure where the disagreement is on this, specifically.It is not hard to either use Google, pick up a newspaper, turn on the news, network with current doctors/nurses to see that multiple hospitals are already underwater due to ventilator issues, PPE shortages, staffing, etc. NY seems to be at epicenter right now, but other cities/communities also struggling. Wake up.
Next up: People are going to start testing for coronavirus in the millions, and it's going to unjustifiably create a panic-generating spike in positive cases, not due to new and rapidly spreading infections, but simply by them finding the thousands of pre-existing cases we didn't know were spreading around, causing mostly benign colds and "flu-like" viral illnesses. Wait for it. It'll be in the news in about a week and it won't be a sign of The End of Days, but if fact the opposite. They'll be finding the virus was benign enough (99.9% of the time) to be spreading around without us even knowing it all along.
Next up: People are going to start testing for coronavirus in the millions, and it's going to unjustifiably create a panic-generating spike in positive cases, not due to new and rapidly spreading infections, but simply by them finding the thousands of pre-existing cases we didn't know were spreading around, causing mostly benign colds and "flu-like" viral illnesses. Wait for it. It'll be in the news in about a week and it won't be a sign of The End of Days, but if fact the opposite. They'll be finding the virus was benign enough (99.9% of the time) to be spreading around without us even knowing it all along.
Here's study out of Oxford’s Evolutionary Ecology of Infectious Disease group estimating that 36-68% of the U.K. population and 60-80% of Italy likely have already have been infected with COVID-19, that COVID-19 was around longer than we thought, that fewer than 1 in a 1000 of those infected will become ill enough to need treatment in a hospital, while also agreeing with the social distancing measures enacted.
Here's the study itself.
Here's a layman's summary from @thegenius 's fave, Financial Times.
In addition to your rigorous journal quotations...you have also posted gems such as:
and...
It is not hard to either use Google, pick up a newspaper, turn on the news, network with current doctors/nurses to see that multiple hospitals are already underwater due to ventilator issues, PPE shortages, staffing, etc. NY seems to be at epicenter right now, but other cities/communities also struggling. Wake up.
Oh boy
why do some people stoke the fire