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Doctors worry fears of getting COVID-19 may have led to a delay in 911 calls

MedStar saw a 54% increase in cardiac arrest calls in May compared to the same time last year. Dallas Fire-Rescue saw a 32% increase in that same time.

First responders and emergency room doctors have a simple message: It is safe to go to an ER. 

Doctors fear that people's concerns about getting COVID-19 have kept them from calling 911 when they have a medical emergency. 

Ambulance service MedStar saw a 54% increase in cardiac arrest calls in May compared to May 2019. Dallas Fire-Rescue saw a 32% increase too. 

“Day after day I ask patients ‘Why did you wait two weeks? You’ve been having this terrible chest pain’ and they always tell me ‘I was scared of getting the virus,'" said Amy Ho, the assistant medical director for Integrated Emergency Services, which staffs emergency departments, including at the Baylor system and JPS. 

Ho said there were several weeks of a drop in the volume of people going to the ER for heart attacks and other serious medical complications. People were staying home instead of seeking medical help. 

"So either they were staying at home and suffering, sometimes they were staying at home and it was really too late," Ho said. "Sometimes they would come to the hospital but significantly delayed which greatly limited what we could do for them." 

MedStar spokesman Matt Zavadsky said it's still safe to call 911 and go to the hospital, despite spikes in cases of the novel coronavirus. 

“It’s probably never been safer because you have the cleanest ambulances, the best PPE that the crew could use, same at the hospital,” Zavadsky said.

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