FORT WORTH (1080 KRLD) - The arctic conditions are keeping first responders very busy today.
MedStar has had several calls from people who are experiencing hypothermia inside their homes due to the power being out.
"Not only are we ... having a whole bunch of crashes, but now we've got these rolling brownouts that are causing significant issues for hypothermia and people having difficulty breathing," says Matt Zavadsky, MedStar spokesman.
But he says there's an issue even more critical.
"The bigger right now is that there are a lot of people who are on home oxygen and require oxygen concentrators that run off of electricity," Zavadsky says. "We are on scene for eight calls simultaneously for people who have called because their oxygen concentrators aren't working, and they're concerned about being able to keep getting oxygen."
As of 4:00 this afternoon, MedStar says it has responded to an average of 22 calls per hour.
"We're working with our mobile healthcare team to see if there's a better way for us to respond to those calls, rather than tying up ambulances every time those people are calling," Zavadsky says.
Zavadsky says this cold snap caps off a very challenging 12 months for MedStar.
"The first responders in this community have had to deal with coronavirus for the last year," says Zavadsky; "and then just in the last four days, we've had a major crash on Interstate 35(W) that resulted in multiple fatalities in a multiple casualty incident. Now we've got this major weather event."
