Hospital Bed Delays Lead To Slower EMSA Response Times - KTUL.com - Tulsa, Oklahoma - News, Weather & Sports

Hospital Bed Delays Lead To Slower EMSA Response Times

Overcrowding at Oklahoma hospitals leads to slower response times for paramedics.

The State Medical Board says, there often aren't enough beds in Oklahoma hospitals for the patients being brought in.

That means EMSA workers must stay with those people until one is finally available.

And these kind of "bed delays" are happening 20% of the time.

In Tulsa alone, 24 out of 30 EMSA ambulances were stuck at the hospital for over an hour.

Dr. Jeffrey Goodloe with Hillcrest Hospital says, "It's not just a busy Friday or Saturday night anymore. Often, any afternoon of the week, we may have several EMSA ambulances tied up at area hospitals on bed delay waiting for space to transfer their patient for further care by emergency nurses and physicians. And so this is a problem that has to be fixed."

The State Medical Board says it is gathering data to deal with the problem.