‘We’re in big trouble’: Alberta double-bunking in ICUs, limiting oxygen due to surge in hospitalizations

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EDMONTON—Cracks are beginning to show in Alberta’s hospitals as the health-care system buckles under the pressure of a soaring number of COVID-19 cases, making staff resort to unconventional measures such as “double bunking” in intensive care units.

Doctors are concerned there will not be enough health-care workers, and in some cases crucial supplies such as oxygen, to take care of patients in critical condition.

On Monday, several Alberta health-care workers tweeted a memo from Alberta Health Services to staff in the Calgary Zone adult acute-care sites which said there was a need to “reduce the demand on the bulk oxygen system” due to limitations at some acute-care sites in Calgary.

Joe Vipond, an emergency room physician in Calgary, said he and his colleagues have been highlighting “pinch points,” or indicators that Alberta is approaching a crisis, such as ICU beds reaching capacity, a shortage of personal protective equipment or inadequate staffing for patient care. But this memo came as “a bit of a shock.”

“I don’t think anybody expected that one of the pinch points is going to be our supply of oxygen,” Vipond said.

The oxygen memo appears to be related to an issue with the distribution system. Vipond said he’s less concerned about how that would impact the quality of care in hospitals today but said it’s an omen of what’s to come.