US hospitals are so overloaded that one ER called 911 on itself

Enlarge / An isolation tent for an emergency department in Walnut Creek, California, in March 2022. (credit: Getty | Gado)

Although COVID-19 remains in a lull, hospitals across the country are in crisis amid a towering wave of seasonal respiratory illnesses—particularly RSV in children—as well as longer-term problems, such as staffing shortages.

Pediatric beds are filling or full, people with urgent health problems are waiting hours in emergency departments hallways and even parking lots, and some hospitals have pitched outdoor tents, conjuring memories of the early days of the pandemic.

In one of the most striking examples, the emergency department of a Seattle-area hospital became so overwhelmed last month that the department’s charge nurse called 911 for help, telling the fire department that they were “drowning” and in “dire straits.” There were reportedly over 45 people in the department’s waiting room and only five nurses on staff.