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First responders say less people calling 911 during medical emergencies in San Diego County

Some people are afraid to call 911.

SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif. — Officials said less people are requesting emergency help and as a result, more are having complications and possibly dying at home.

"It would appear that some people are concerned about going to a heath care facility," said Jim Lydon, Fire Chief for the Coronado Fire Department. "They either don't want to burden the system or they're concerned about potential for exposure."

Since the pandemic hit, first responders across San Diego County said 911 call volume requesting medical assistance is down.

"Our call volume is down the first six months of the year 12% for medical calls and the access to 911s EMS is down across the county," said Lydon.

The grim result of fewer people utilizing an ambulance could be that more are dying at home.

"We have had a series of cardiac arrests in the last few weeks. In a statement made by one of the witnesses was that they thought the individual had been experiencing symptoms for the last day or two and potentially didn't call," said Lydon.

Hospital officials are noticing a correlating trend. Since early March, patient count is down.

"Our volumes have been lower, not just for certain types of complaints, but for all complaints, which really leads us to wonder - 'what are all these people doing? Are they at home suffering? Are they having heart attacks, strokes at home?' And for these types of emergencies, time is of the essence," said Marla Poston, Director of Patient Care Services at Sharp Coronado.

Poston and Lydon want everyone to know there is room and resources available in San Diego County and that it is safe to use 911 for medical help during the pandemic.

"You know the hospitals might be the one of the safest places to go right now. We have more resources to do that," said Poston.

"We want to make sure that people call us and call us as soon as they start to feel ill," said Lydon.

When it comes to certain medical emergencies, some medicines need to be administered within a few hours of the onset of symptoms to be effective. Furthermore, Poston said there are enough hospital beds for those who need them right now.

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