Department of Defense personnel are now actively assisting at California hospitals to help respond to an influx of COVID-19 patients.
A group of approximately 75 Department of Defense medical personnel were deployed in late December to the hospitals hardest hit by the pandemic.
"I’m seeing the relatively asymptomatic people that are just having a little bit of body aches or a headache and just want to get tested for the safety of their family and their coworkers, and then I’m seeing those that are having significantly difficult breathing, and they’re truly, truly, very ill and need significant help," said Alexas Gingras, a U.S. Air Force captain and emergency room physician who's one of about 20 military personnel assisting doctors and nurses at Dameron Hospital in Stockton. "And a lot of it seems to be stemming from large gatherings through the holidays."
U.S. Air Force and Army personnel are also deployed at three hospitals in the Central Valley and Southern California, where ICU bed availability is at 0%.
At Lodi Memorial, two doctors, two physician assistants, seven respiratory therapists, 24 registered nurses and other support staff were deployed, according to the hospital last week. At Community Regional Medical Center in Fresno, about 15 Air Force and five Army doctors, nurses and respiratory technicians are assisting.
Military personnel are also working at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton.