As hospitals are slammed by waves of COVID-19 patients, the California National Guard is lending a hand.
Guard troops are stationed at 13 medical facilities in the state, including Adventist Health White Memorial in Los Angeles, Methodist Hospital of Southern California in Arcadia and Pacifica Hospital of the Valley in Sun Valley.
Each team consists of about six to 10 medical corps members, led by a physician or a nurse. Some facilities, like El Centro Regional Medical Center in Imperial County, have two teams.
The Guard has dispatched medical help since the start of the pandemic, but the need is now greater, with hospitals reaching a breaking point from an unprecedented surge in coronavirus cases.
California reports a record 585 virus deaths in single day
By CHRISTOPHER WEBERJanuary 1, 2021 GMT
LOS ANGELES (AP) California started the new year by reporting a record 585 coronavirus deaths in a single day after a health official said the pandemic was pushing state hospitals to the “brink of catastrophe” as some medical centers scramble to provide oxygen for the critically ill.
The California Department of Public Health on Friday reported more than than 47,189 new confirmed COVID-19 cases, bringing the total to nearly 2.3 million. Nearly 26,000 people have died from the virus in the state.
The previous single-day record of 432 deaths was set on Tuesday.
New California laws address virus, fires, law enforcement
Dec. 31, 2020 at 6:00 am
What a strange legislative year it was.
The coronavirus pandemic forced California state lawmakers to twice shut down their sessions for weeks at a time the first unexpected work stoppage in 158 years. Masked lawmakers tried to limit the number of bills they considered, but still ran out of time on the final night, partly because quarantined Republican senators had to vote remotely.
Yet they still managed to pass hundreds of bills, 372 of which were signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom. Most take effect with the new year. Among them:
California National Guard medical corps pitches in to help struggling hospitals
Melissa Quintero takes blood from a patient inside a hallway in the emergency department at Providence St. Mary Medical Center in Apple Valley. The medical center is currently receiving support from the California National Guard.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
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As hospitals are slammed by waves of COVID-19 patients, the California National Guard is lending a hand.
Guard troops are stationed at 13 medical facilities in the state, including Adventist Health White Memorial in Los Angeles, Methodist Hospital of Southern California in Arcadia and Pacifica Hospital of the Valley in Sun Valley.
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