American College of Emergency Physicians
August 25, 2021
But the Eugene group has statewide backing. On Friday, the Oregon chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) issued a similar call: "For COVID complications, the best way to stay out of the ER is to get vaccinated as soon as possible," they wrote in a blog post. "They [vaccines] are the best tool we have to protect the public, including the healthcare workforce."
"Our emergency departments are overflowing," the post noted. "Regional hospitals are sending ICU patients to San Francisco and Utah. Elective surgeries are on hold. People are at risk of dying from trauma, heart attacks, and strokes, because unvaccinated people are utilizing all available ICU capacity, shutting down our operating rooms and delaying elective surgeries."
"At times there are people in the ER still waiting to be seen who were there before I began my shift and still waiting when I go home," Mike McCaskill, MD, immediate past president of the state ACEP chapter, said in the post. "We are seriously worried."
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