As the infection of the new coronavirus spreads and the beds of medical institutions are tight, the number of cases of "difficulty in transportation" is increasing rapidly in Yokohama City, where it is difficult to decide where to accept patients who have been transported by emergency. In some cases it took five hours to find it.
According to the Yokohama City Fire Department, there were 186 cases of "difficulty in transportation" such as cases where there were four or more inquiries to the hospital before the destination of the patient was decided, and in the week until January 10th, there were 186 cases. It increased 2.2 times from the same period of the previous year.
The Fire Department believes that the background is that the beds of medical institutions are becoming tight due to the spread of the new coronavirus infection.
In addition to being infected with the new coronavirus, it took five hours to find a destination for someone who had another illness, and there was an unusual case in which an ambulance crew was replaced on the way.
Hiromitsu Hasebe, Chief of the Emergency Division of the Yokohama City Fire Department, said, "As the number of infected people increases, the number of cases that are difficult to transport is increasing, which is having an impact. However, such cases account for about 5% of the total, and most of them can be dealt with properly. Therefore, I would like to do my best to respond to each request. "