FEMA Workers May Help Wisconsin With COVID-19 Patients

WISCONSIN — Wisconsin's health services asked for medical staff from the federal government as the state's hospitals became clogged with COVID-19 patients.

Department of Health Services Secretary-designee Karen Timberlake announced the state may get help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to staff intensive care units.

Wisconsin can expect up to 100 FEMA health care workers, split into five teams across the state as they're needed, Timberlake said at a news conference. The extra staff would free up capacity in state ICUs.

Federal hospital staff could arrive in Wisconsin in "a matter of weeks," Timberlake added, but gave no solid date when the workers would show up.

More than 270 hospitals and long-term care facilities across the state have asked for help with staffing, Timberlake said.

A total of 41 ICU beds were available in Wisconsin hospitals as of Wednesday, data from the Wisconsin Hospital Association showed. No ICU beds were available in the Fox Valley and northwest regions in the state, and ICU bed numbers in some regions dwindled to single digits.

The Froedtert hospital system is strained, with up to 40 percent of its community hospital beds in use for COVID-19 patients, Froedtert hospitals CEO Eric Conley said in a meeting with other health care leaders. Close to 88 percent of those COVID-19 patients were unvaccinated, he added.

“The COVID-19 vaccines are an important tool for preventing the worst outcomes and slowing the spread of COVID-19," Timberlake said in a statement.

People 18 and older were encouraged to get their booster shot six months after their second shot of Pfizer or Moderna vaccines or their single shot of Johnson & Johnson vaccines.

See Also:

• 'We Are Full': Froedtert Strained Under COVID-19 Hospitalizations
• ICU Beds Dwindle Amid Influx Of COVID-19 Patients In WI