“Two inches of snow and not even subzero temperatures and you've got to shut power off?” he said. He is frustrated by the state’s lack of preparation for such weather. He ended up putting them up in hotels so they'd know their children were safe and warm. Their power had been off for hours, and indoor temperatures had plunged into the 40s and even 30s. Schultz said many of his employees were scared to leave their families to go to work. On : Live Updates: Closures, blackouts and more after winter weather slams S.A.
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“I have generator power, but the generator was frozen - it wouldn’t run.” “I couldn’t get anybody in (on Monday) because of the power outages, and we didn’t have power at our main headquarters,” said Andy Schultz, who oversees Superior Mobile Health, one of the largest private ambulance companies in San Antonio. Some ambulance companies have had to pause their services altogether. In some cases, he said, the risk of transporting them outweighed the benefits. The conditions are also creating a bottleneck for hospital patients who would normally be transferred to San Antonio from smaller outlying hospitals, said David Rice, director of Wilson County’s Emergency Services District No. “If we physically can’t get there because of ice, then we can’t get to it, and we’ll have to go to the closest,” he said. But EMS agencies also have to consider the safety of their workers, he said. Some ambulances have been involved in minor fender-benders.Ĭertain hospitals are best equipped to treat serious trauma injuries or strokes, and paramedics are doing everything they can to transport patients to those facilities, said Montgomery, whose department serves the far West and South sides. Like other vehicles, ambulances and firetrucks have difficulties gaining traction on ice and have to abide by road closures, complicating their routes. 16, 2021 Residents of the complex said that electric power had been out most of the day because of the snow and cold weather. Marionna Barnes, left, and Connie Hubbard, residents of the Chestnut Park apartments, near West Avenue and Silver Sands, watch as a fire engulfs some units in the complex on Tuesday, Feb. In some cases, EMS agencies have helped restore power to residents who have oxygen concentrators at their homes. SAFD is also sending trucks with oxygen-filling capabilities to home-bound residents who need refills on their tanks. Minor situations are being diverted to a new telemedicine program, which has helped conserve resources during the latest coronavirus spike. On Monday, it responded to 2,608, many of which were injuries from falls on ice.Īs the department contends with a combination of calls related to COVID-19, the weather and power outages, it is prioritizing ambulance units for the most urgent patients. Typically, SAFD will receive 800 to 900 calls a day. “Everything is just magnified and tripled,” he said. The crises are layering on top of each other, said Joe Arrington, SAFD spokesman. The weather chaos comes as hospitals and emergency responders are still responding to the tail-end of San Antonio’s winter coronavirus surge, which is still coming down from its mid-January peak. “We’re still responding and we’re not canceling anything, but we are in that disaster mode.” 2, which experienced a 200 percent increase in calls. “The overall health care and emergency services system is stressed,” said Mark Montgomery, assistant fire chief for Bexar County Emergency Services District No. On : What went wrong with the Texas power grid? The ongoing power outages could affect critical infrastructure, which includes hospitals, said Melissa Sorola, spokeswoman for CPS Energy. With freezing rain expected Tuesday night, disruptions to medical services are expected to continue for the next few days. More than two dozen residents of a Wilson County nursing home were transported to another facility after fire suppression pipes ruptured, causing major flooding.
The wintry weather has also triggered a cascade of other medical problems for patients, including at-home oxygen shortages, missed dialysis appointments and delayed elective procedures.