Santa Clara County officials this week urged people to not call 911 unless it is a true emergency because the COVID-19 pandemic is straining the county's ambulance services.
Normally, when patients pull up to an emergency room in an ambulance, they’re brought right in, but the coronavirus is changing that.
“With the hospitals continuing to fill with patients, we have less beds available in the emergency departments to transition care from our ambulance crews to the hospital staff,” said Daniel Franklin, the EMS duty chief for Santa Clara County.
Franklin told KCBS Radio that means there are less ambulances available in the 911 system because the vehicles are spending so much time waiting to unload patients at hospitals.
Now, Franklin said they are hoping the public can help.
“If you do need to call 911, think about whether or not it’s an appropriate use of 911 services,” he said.
There have been reports of ambulances having to wait up to eight hours to offload patients.
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