The Colorado Department of Health and Environment's chief medical officer, Dr. Eric France, decided on Friday to re-instate crisis standards of care for emergency medical services because of the rapid influx of COVID-19 patients.
We need to make sure that we can provide care to anyone who needs it. Standards of care help us do that. CDHE said in a press release that we need every Coloradan over the age of 5 to get vaccine so we can protect everyone.
According to CDHE, crisis standards of care are protocols that guide medical professionals and first responders on how to deliver care during public health emergencies and other disasters in order to save as many lives as possible.
The department said that staff who call in sick and high demand for patient transports are reasons for using crisis standards of care.
Kyle Clark said on January 8, 2022, "That's right."
Only individuals with the most severe cases of COVID-19 should be transported for medical treatment. The staff is told to refer people with less severe cases to treatment facilities.
The absence of high-risk medical history, oxygen saturation above 90%, and being under 60 years of age are some of the factors that can disqualify individuals with COVID-19 from being transported for emergency medical treatment.
Patients with less severe cases of COVID-19 are more likely to be given advice on how to care for themselves while quarantining at home or directed to non- emergency medical facilities in order to preserve hospital resources and limit the chances of exposure, according to the crisis standards of care.
The standards recommend that the staff not transport patients who are in continuous cardiac arrest.
The state has temporarily updated guidance for call centers, dispatch centers, emergency medical service agencies, and first responders, but it has not done so for hospitals and acute care facilities. When the needs of patients exceed the number of resources available, these standards are only activated for hospitals.
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