EMS Calls Down 30%, ER Visits Drop by Half During Pandemic

(May 9, 2020 3:08 PM) Michigan residents should not risk their lives in a health emergency by avoiding calling 9-1-1 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, area health officials stressed today.

The Michigan Association of Ambulance Services, and its member EMS agencies, are seeing a trend of people fearing to call 9-1-1 for heart attacks, strokes, and other medical emergencies.

EMS calls in the Jackson area are down approximately 30% according to Marc Breckenridge, Public Information Officer for Jackson Community Ambulance.

Across all Henry Ford Health System Emergency Departments, including Henry Ford Allegiance Health, patient visits in April and so far in May, are down 50 percent compared to the same period last year according to a hospital spokesperson.

Michigan’s ambulance providers are prepared to safely care for patients with medical emergencies with protective gear and disinfecting protocols in place. EMS professionals are urging residents not to jeopardize their health by avoiding calling for assistance.

“Individuals did not stop having heart attacks and strokes with the coronavirus appeared,” said Ron Slagell, president and CEO of Jackson Community Ambulance, Huron Valley Ambulance and past-president of MAAS. “While it’s important to take the pandemic seriously, signs of serious health problems should not be ignored or pushed off.”

Doctors are concerned about patients they are no longer seeing — people with chest or abdominal pain, slurred speech, dizziness, and other problems that don’t go away. They worry that some people are delaying necessary care which might place them at risk for serious long-term health problems.

“What happens is they hold off and hold off, while getting sicker, then it becomes a much graver condition when they do show up at an ER,” explains Henry Ford emergency medicine physician Sam Mossallam, M.D.

“I’m hoping they are getting care somewhere, maybe through telehealth. But it’s important for people to know that if they are sick, the emergency department is open for business to take good care of them and while also keeping them safe.”

At Henry Ford Allegiance Health, emergency medicine physician Alan Lazzara, M.D. told JTV News, “The emergency department is a very safe place to be.  Everybody is donning personal protection equipment, We have segregated rooms.  You are not going to be sitting next to a coronavirus patient in the waiting room.  You go back to a room right away,” Lazzara said.  “We have completely separate areas.  We don’t wear the same PPE from room to room, we wash our hands like crazy, and the hospital is screening staff daily with temperature checks.”

Michigan is not alone in this dangerous trend.  Modern Healthcare reported that an American College of Emergency Physicians poll at the end of April found that 29 percent of those surveyed said they avoided medical care due to COVID-19 concerns. In another survey by Morning Consult, 75 percent of Americans surveyed said they avoided healthcare because they were concerned about stressing the system.

Dr. Lazzara stressed the importance of calling 911 immediately when you have an emergency or think you have a health emergency. “Do not hesitate to call 911 or come in.” he said.

The MMA says urgency is critical.  “We don’t want to see people develop a permanent medical disability or die needlessly due to fear of COVID or burdening the medical system,” said Jack Fisher, MAAS president and executive director of Medic 1 Ambulance in Berrien County. “Every minute counts in a medical emergency and people should still call for help, even during this pandemic.”