Ambulance squad members are seen checking equipment including an oxygen tank to load onto a light vehicle at the Koshigaya City Fire Department on Aug. 6, 2021. (Mainichi/Yoshitaka Takeda)

       KOSHIGAYA, Saitama -- The fire department here has added two backup ambulances and a light vehicle to its fleet of eight ambulances as a stopgap to prevent its response to medical emergencies from being delayed, as COVID-19 infections surge in the city.

       According to the Koshigaya public health center, the number of new weekly coronavirus infections had remained between 30 and 40 until early July, but the figure spiked to some 350 in early August. The number of overall emergency dispatches in the city was 1,458 in July -- up 194 from the previous month -- and reached as many as 540 in the first 10 days in August alone.

       There were six to seven transports of COVID-19 patients per week in mid- and late-July, but the number rose to 13 in August. As public health center employees and the Saitama Prefectural Government's coordinators adjust and decide which hospitals to transport patients, there have been many cases where transportation of patients has taken a long time.

       In one case, a man experiencing breathing trouble, and who later tested positive for the coronavirus, called emergency services on the evening of Aug. 5. Paramedics called hospitals from the ambulance, looking for a place. It took them an hour and 45 minutes to find a hospital that would take him, the 12th they had contacted.

       In another case, the fire department got a call from a man who was recuperating at home and complaining of breathing difficulty before dawn on Aug. 6. An ambulance squad temporarily stabilized his condition before heading back to the fire station. The public health center found a bed for the man in the morning, and the squad was dispatched again to transport him 12 hours later.

       August is a busy month for emergency medical services, due to rises in other conditions such as heatstroke. There were 21 times in 10 days in August -- for a total of four hours and 38 minutes -- when every Koshigaya City Fire Department ambulance was out on a call at the same time.

       The fire department has increased the number of paramedic squads from eight to 10, each consisting of three members. With the new vehicles in the fleet, the department will send the light vehicle loaded with equipment including oxygen tanks in cases where it appears emergency staff will be required on-site for a long period, allowing the ambulance initially dispatched to return to the fire station.

       The Koshigaya Fire Station's vice chief Tadao Kawazu said, "We are going to make sure that there is no detrimental impact on efforts to save the lives of those suffering from acute illness or those in traffic accidents."

       (Japanese original by Yoshitaka Takeda, Koshigaya Local Bureau)

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