Idaho hospitals nearly buckling in relentless COVID surge
ABC News
Intensive care beds are full of unvaccinated coronavirus patients at a hospital in Boise, Idaho, and doctors are bracing for the need to conserve scarce resources for the patients most likely to survive
BOISE, Idaho -- The intensive care rooms at St. Luke's Boise Medical Center are full, each a blinking jungle of tubes, wires and mechanical breathing machines. The patients nestled inside are a lot alike: All unvaccinated, mostly middle-aged, paralyzed and sedated, reliant on life support and locked in a silent struggle against COVID-19. But watch for a moment, and glimpses of who they were before the coronavirus become clear. Artfully inked tattoos cover the tanned forearm of a man in his 30s. An expectant mother's slightly swollen belly is briefly revealed as a nurse adjusts her position. The young woman is five months pregnant and hooked to a breathing machine. Down the hall, another pregnant woman, just 24 and hooked to a ventilator, is lying prone — on top of her developing fetus — to get more air into her ravaged lungs.More Related News