Crime & Safety
Some Montgomery Hospitals Diverting Patients Due To High Demand
With emergency rooms filling up, some Montgomery Co. hospitals are temporarily diverting ambulances to other facilities, an official said.
GAITHERSBURG, MD — A number of Montgomery County hospitals have been temporarily diverting ambulances to other facilities as critical care units and emergency rooms have been filling up.
County Fire and Rescue spokesman Pete Piringer tweeted on Monday that area hospitals are operating under "Blue Alert" status, which means ambulances are transporting patients to the closest appropriate medical facility.
A jurisdiction may declare "Blue Alert" status when its EMS system is "temporarily taxed to its limits in providing pre hospital care and ambulance transportation due to extraordinary situations such as snow, icing, flooding or other circumstances that contribute to high demand for ambulance service," according to the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems.
Find out what's happening in Gaithersburgfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
MoCo @MCFRS_EMIHS @MCFRS operating under 'Blue Alert' at this time (245p 12/21) to more actively manage patient transport distribution among ALL area hospitals countywide @MontgomeryCoMD @MoCoDHHS area hospitals reporting ERs busy & ICU/CCU Filling up https://t.co/apKxBSlego https://t.co/1qApfAe6IL pic.twitter.com/ok4H9LmN26
— Pete Piringer (@mcfrsPIO) December 21, 2020
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