A reminder, if one were even needed at this point, that with all these COVID patients in ICU beds across the country resources are stretched to their limit. In Alabama things are especially dire, as they no longer have any ICU beds. When Ray DeMonia suffered his cardiac event they searched in vain for an ICU bed for him, finally finding one in Mississippi. But it was too late.
And, as another reminder, Trump held his rally in Cullman, Alabama where upwards of 50,000 unmasked, unvaccinated Trump supporters congregated on August 21. Hospitals already stretched beyond capacity just weren't able to cope with the new influx of COVID cases that Trump brought with him. Five schools in the area shut down almost immediately after Trump's rally, overwhelmed by COVID.
Source: Al.com
The family of a Cullman antique dealer is urging people to be vaccinated against COVID-19 after medical workers were forced to transport him to a free hospital bed nearly 200 miles away from his home.
Ray Martin DeMonia died Sept. 1 after suffering a cardiac event on Aug. 23. He was three days shy of celebrating his 74th birthday.
In his obituary, DeMonia’s family says hospitals across the South swelled with COVID-19 patients meant that medical staff at Cullman Regional Medical Center had to look elsewhere.
“In honor of Ray, please get vaccinated if you have not, in an effort to free up resources for non COVID related emergencies,” the obituary reads.
“Due to COVID 19, CRMC emergency staff contacted 43 hospitals in 3 states in search of a Cardiac ICU bed and finally located one in Meridian, MS. He would not want any other family to go through what his did.”
Emphasis added.
The family of a man who died of heart issues in Mississippi is asking people to get vaccinated for COVID-19 after 43 hospitals across three states were unable to accept him because of full cardiac ICUs. https://t.co/OLCpbMsCVH
— Bruno J. Navarro (@Bruno_J_Navarro) September 11, 2021
“In honor of Ray, please get vaccinated if you have not… to free up resources . Due to COVID 19, CRMC… contacted 43 hospitals in 3 states in search of a Cardiac ICU bed and finally located one in Meridian, MS. He would not want any other family to go through what his did.” pic.twitter.com/bmZAsQmtWQ
— Ruth Serven Smith (@RuthServenSmith) September 9, 2021
What this article doesn’t mention is that two days before DeMonia had to be hospitalized Donald Trump held what the state GOP said was the biggest political rally in Alabama history literally in DeMonia’s hometown of Cullman. DeMonia was hospitalized … https://t.co/v9I7rDCCav
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) September 13, 2021