NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – Under new guidance given to EMS workers, cardiac arrest patients who cannot be saved in the field are to be declared dead and not brought to hospitals.
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The dire edict comes as emergency rooms and intensive care units are overwhelmed with critically ill coronavirus patients.
The Regional Emergency Medical Services Council of New York issued the new guidance; it applies to the five boroughs and Long Island.
Instead of being brought to hospitals for further revival attempts, as it used to be, patients are to be pronounced dead at the scene, according to the directive.
The guidance is part of an effort to focus on patients who are most likely to survive.
"If you can't get revived on scene, that's it," an EMS worker told the New York Post. "They're going to work on you, but if they can't get a pulse back, they won't transport you."
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