Lifeflight crews get people to the hospital when minutes matter. But lately, Executive Director Tom Judge said they are seeing patients who've wasted too many of those minutes, hesitant to call 911 because they fear going to a hospital where COVID patients are being treated.
He's had people in their 50's go into cardiac arrest before they can get them off the helicopter because they ran out of time. He calls it a tragedy.
"Those are a lot of life years lost. Calling 911 is the right thing to do and going to the hospital is absolutely safe."
Melissa Adams of EMS seconds that sentiment. Working clinically in western Maine, she said she's seen it too, especially among the older population. She said, "this is a group that doesn't want to miss use services in general. They think that waiting to call will help other people. We want to warn against that."
Adams, who also helps keep the statistics on EMS transports for the state of Maine, said there was a significant drop in 911 calls and transports last summer. While several factors could be a play, a large portion of the people who might otherwise have called 911 didn't pick up the phone when they were suffering non-COVID-19 related emergencies. As a result of that hesitancy all across the nation, the death rate in several demographics from causes other than COVID was also up last year. That according to a study at the University of Indiana and published in Science Daily.
Both Adams and Judge want to drive home the point that not calling for medical help is far more dangerous than getting to or being in the hospital.
"If you are having signs of a medical emergency know that hospitals are safe places and you need to call 911 right away," Adams said.