Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect Idaho's decision on Thursday to .
A couple of weeks ago, Ed Crosby鈥檚 brother-in-law suffered a bad fall in North Idaho. He was airlifted to the region鈥檚 biggest hospital, the 330-bed Kootenai Health in Coeur D鈥橝lene. He needed intensive care, but when he got there he had to wait.
鈥淭here were no beds available in the ICU,鈥� Crosby recalls. 鈥淚t was totally filled with COVID patients 鈥� almost all unvaccinated. It made me extremely angry.鈥�
It took two days before a bed opened up, according to Crosby. That鈥檚 the current situation in North Idaho and in a growing number of places around the Mountain West. From Las Vegas to Albuquerque to Cody, Wyo., hospitals have become full of mostly unvaccinated patients ravaged by the delta variant.
The current COVID crush has prompted some hospitals to begin rationing care for everyone, regardless of their diagnosis. Medical providers in parts of Utah and Idaho, for example, have cancelled most surgeries. State health officials are warning everyone to avoid risky activities that might land them in the emergency room because beds are full and resources are strapped.
鈥淭here鈥檚 no question about it 鈥� the system is incredibly stressed,鈥� says John Hick, medical director for emergency preparedness at Hennepin Healthcare in Minneapolis.
Hick is an expert in crisis standards of care, which are guidelines that hospitals and state public health agencies activate when overwhelmed.
鈥淚t鈥檚 about using the resources we have in the best way possible to maintain as close to usual standards of care as we can,鈥� he says.
This doesn鈥檛 mean doctors are going around a COVID ward deciding who lives and who dies in. Instead, Hick says it鈥檚 about rationing the existing staff and equipment you have on hand. That might mean a patient, instead of getting four hours on a ventilator, may get two because that鈥檚 just enough to keep them safe.
Last week, Idaho health officials for North Idaho, and on Thursday . Other states and healthcare systems in the region, , are considering similar emergency measures.
Across the country, Hick says, the biggest problem right now is a shortage of critical care beds. The strain is especially acute in the Mountain West and the Great Plains because they don鈥檛 have as many large, tertiary hospitals as in the more densely populated East.
鈥淭he number of ICU beds for the population is just not adequate at baseline,鈥� Hick says. 鈥淵ou throw in additional trauma, you throw in COVID, and you鈥檙e talking about a real crisis.鈥�
It鈥檚 a crisis that Emily Farness, a 30-year-old ICU nurse at Kootenai Health, faces everyday.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been so physically tough,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been emotionally tough and just draining on so many levels.鈥�
Kootenai Health estimates about 97 percent of its COVID-19 patients are unvaccinated.
鈥淎lmost all of them tell me, 鈥業 had no idea it was like this. If I had only known I would have gotten vaccinated. If I had only known I would have taken this so much more seriously,鈥欌�� she says. 鈥淔or them it鈥檚 already happened. They can鈥檛 go back and change their decision.鈥�
That鈥檚 why she wishes the unvaccinated could just get a glimpse of the fear and pain she and other nurses see everyday. The delta variant is putting more young, seemingly healthy people into the hospital. Farness says it can break their bodies down.
鈥淭heir breathing is so labored that they can鈥檛 take breaks off of their oxygen mask long enough to eat a solid meal,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e scarfing a few bites and then just giving up.鈥�
Farness says they can spend a month or two in the hospital. When they do get out, they often have long-term lung damage, brain fogginess or other long-haul symptoms.
鈥淭heir prior quality of life might not be attainable,鈥� she says. 鈥淭he job they held before that was maybe fairly physical or mentally taxing 鈥� they might not be capable of returning to it. Personally, as someone who is young and healthy, that鈥檚 almost scarier than dying.鈥�
Idaho's vaccination rate 鈥� which ranks among the lowest in the country 鈥� has for the past three weeks, and state public health officials aren鈥檛 expecting this surge in hospitalizations to ease anytime soon.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, the O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West in Montana, 萝莉少女 in Colorado, KUNM in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the .
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