SAN ANTONIO — San Antonio leaders say the city ran out of ambulances for a brief period on Thursday as coronavirus-related 911 calls hit record levels.
For 26 minutes, there were not enough EMS transport units available to take to the hospital people who called for emergency services.
"That means we're not transporting heart attacks, traffic accidents or any other sort of medical call," City Manager Erik Walsh said.
Since 95% of the city's fire trucks carry a paramedic, people who dialed 911 got treatment on site. But those patients had to wait to go to hospitals, which are better equipped to treat traumatic injuries.
All 39 EMS units were responding to calls during this window, though it's not clear how many of those calls were related to COVID-19 emergencies.
Ambulances took more COVID-19 patients to the hospital on Wednesday than in any other 24-hour period during the pandemic. City leaders say they expect the record-breaking pace will continue.
"EMS transports today have been increasing," Mayor Ron Nirenberg said at Thursday's COVID-19 response briefing. "They have been day after day through this delta (variant) surge... you see the stress that is occurring in our medical system."
More than 50 fire cadets will finish their training two weeks early and begin work next Saturday to help meet demand. The fire department will also require staff to work extra hours.
Nirenberg says the incident constitutes a collapse of the city's medical service.
"We are at that point," he said. "The sickening part of this whole thing is that it's preventable."
Nirenberg asked San Antonio residents to use clinics and pharmacies, not hospitals, for COVID-19 testing. Fire department staff note that 911 is for emergencies only, not a ride to the hospital.