BY LUCIE KRISMAN
LMH Health is preparing for an expected medical surge due to COVID-19 and working internally to reactivate retired doctors willing to help in hospitals, County Administrator Sarah Plinsky told Douglas County commissioners Monday.
"It's actually really inspiring to hear folks that are willing to come in and help participate and prepare for that," Plinsky said. "So that's really positive."
Commissioners urge county residents to take caution and support one another during this time.
"I want us to be very upfront with the public that there are hard times ahead," County Commissioner Patrick Kelly said. "I'm very confident in county staff, but we haven't seen the worst yet and we as a community need to be prepared for that. We have to be ready to support each other and help each other as we work through this."
Plinsky said the majority of county operations are still accessible to the public. Updates on the county's most recent information about COVID-19 can be found here.
In other business, commissioners approved the purchase of six cardiac monitors and two portable ventilators for Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical. The two ventilators will replace two that are outdated.
Emergency Medical Services Division Chief Kevin Joles wrote in a letter that having this new equipment of the best standard can ultimately reduce a patient's hospital stay.
"The pursuit of delivering the gold-standard in emergency service care means ensuring that the equipment in the LDCFM inventory arsenal can adapt to evidence-based medicine and treatments, which ultimately reduce hospital admission lengths and encourage quicker recovery," Joles wrote.
The total cost of the purchase from ZOLL Medical Corp. is $195,000.
The commission will continue to meet remotely via Zoom for meetings in the near future. The next meeting is at 5:30 p.m. April 8.
"These are strange, challenging, unprecedented times," County Commissioner Michelle Derusseau said. "We also want to practice social distancing, and we know that it's going to get worse before it gets better."
Reach reporter Lucie Krisman at eudoratimes@gmail.com.
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