The State of California’s Emergency Services Authority (EMSA), in partnership with the County of Orange’s Orange County (OC) Emergency Medical Services (EMS) team, has established an Oxygen Depot at the former Marine Corps Air Station El Toro in the City of Irvine.
The Oxygen Depot, which is being staffed by a California Medical Assistance Team (CalMAT), is comprised of a large, deployable system that draws in normal air and separates out the nitrogen, producing an output of concentrated oxygen used to fill tanks to support the needs of local hospital and medical facilities within OC and across the broader Southern California region.
“These tanks can be used to increase a facility’s oxygen supply during a serious surge in the number of patients requiring hospitalization or emergency room care, which we’ve experienced here in OC over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Dr. Carl Schultz, Medical Director of OC EMS. “We’re glad this additional resource exists to help provide quality care for patients.”
Hospitals and other medical facilities can call the OC EMS Duty Officer 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at (714) 415-8980 to request tanks as needed, with coordinated pick-up and delivery arranged by State disaster medical support units.
This article was released by the Orange County Health Care Agency.