Southern California's hospitals are bracing for disaster as embers ignite and emergency rooms fill with patients with breathing problems, according to an article on the Los Angeles Times website.
Jack Hagerman, spokesman for Valley Presbyterian Hospital in Van Nuys, said the hospital was offering face masks to employees, patients and visitors. He said air purifiers were put in high-risk areas of the hospital to keep the air as clean as possible.
“To limit smoke coming into the building, we’ve closed all of our exits except for our main entrance and entrance to the Emergency Department,” Hagerman said in an email. “We’ve added fans at those entrances to discourage outside air from traveling inside.”
As the fires grow unpredictable because of heavy Santa Ana winds, hospital officials have had to improvise to deal with staffing shortages, road closures and evacuations.
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