REMSA says emergency calls are up 15 percent during the pandemic surge.
Paramedics are finding themselves both mentally and physically exhausted right now.
REMSA says nearly half their 9-11 calls right now are for COVID. The total number of calls is also up, hundreds more each month compared to 3 months ago.
"The emergency rooms are full which decreases the capacity for us to transport patients to emergency rooms.
You see our ambulances waiting to drop off patients for longer periods of time, which tends to tie up the ambulance to prevent it from gong to the next call," said REMSA Director of EMS Operations Paul Burton.
"We are all very exhausted," said REMSA paramedic Ellie Arrate. She says people refusing to go to the emergency room is making the job more difficult.
A major issue right now is people are calling 9-11, rather than going to a doctor at the first signs of COVID. "You start thinking of your own family. If this was your family that had to go and was refusing, How would that make you feel? That frustration just keeps adding up," said Arrate.
Increased response times right now is not the fault of paramedics. "There is a definite slow down, because of the extra personal protection equipment that we are mandating people to wear," said Burton. "I change my clothes at work. After work, I go home and shower before I go and get my kids. I take the extra steps so that whatever I got on me from work stays away from them," said Arrate.
The number of available REMSA personnel is affected by those who are in isolation for COVID exposure.
REMSA is designating part of the fleet to deal with minor incidents, and added four ambulances and 8 paramedics to deal with the overload.
"Patients are being more agitated and angry.
They are not very nice with us these days. I think that's making things harder on us as well," said Arrate. She says being nice to a paramedic also helps the mental exhaustion of the current overload.
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