Hospitals prepare for surge in patients
Hawaii’s hospitals prepared for a surge in patients as Lane neared, CBS Honolulu affiliate KGMB reports. The director of Hawaii’s Department of Health told KGMB that having enough hospital space in case of a huge influx is a major challenge.
“Basically, our health care system is very fragile in that respect. Our hospitals are full. They can’t afford to keep beds open for people in the event of storms like this,” said Bruce Anderson, director of the Hawaii Department of Health. “Fortunately, in this case we actually have a federal agency that has sent two teams here, 30 people on each team, with resources to help support establishing medical facilities if need be.”
The Queen’s Medical Center and its West Oahu facility postponed all elective procedures and surgeries on Friday and Saturday, KGMB reports. The hospitals are stocked up with supplies and the generators are ready. Employees have gone through training to deal with natural disasters or any large influx of patients.
“We’re a level-one trauma center, the only one in the state, and we’re really prepared for that. Then there’s after the event, if it’s really catastrophic, you see things such as dehydration, exhaustion, infections,” said Dr. Leslie Chun, chief medial officer at The Queen’s Medical Center.
Windward Oahu, Adventist Health Castle on Oahu said it had activated its 24/7 incident command center and has supplies ready for staff and patients. Other area hospitals also said they were ready if needed.
