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Travis County Medical Society issues call to doctors to help as local COVID surge worsens
07 January
(Pexels)
As the number of active COVID-19 cases continues to surge across Austin and the state of Texas, the Travis County Medical Society issued a call for help "to any qualified members who would be available and willing to work temporarily as inpatient physicians" on Thursday.
The COVID-19 Modeling Consortium at the University of Texas at Austin projects the Austin metro—a five-county area—will exceed its ICU capacity by Jan. 15 if transmission continues at its current rate.
Trauma Service Area O, which includes Travis County and 11 other Central Texas counties, only has 39 available ICU beds for a population of approximately 440,127 people, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.
Local officials expect to start the activation process to open the Austin Convention Center as a field hospital in the next week or two due to the current surge.
"It seems very clear to us that we are going to run out of hospital beds," Austin-Travis County Interim Health Authority Dr. Mark Escott said Wednesday.
TCMS President Dr. Nancy Thorne Foster said the organization is seeking internal medicine, family physicians and qualified subspecialists "who feel comfortable with hospital care" and could round on 10 to 12 patients each day, starting as early as Monday, in the email.
Emergency onboarding and credentialing would be provided and members would be reimbursed for their efforts, she added.
TCMS, which represents about 4,000 physicians locally, has been an active participant in the local COVID response.
In early July, the organization shared a five-minute video comparing the spread of the virus to the Titanic and asking residents to do what they could to mitigate it. Nearly 212,000 people viewed it on YouTube.
The next week, TCMS issued a call for volunteers to help staff the field hospital in July, during the summer surge. More than 180 doctors responded, although the convention center was ultimately not needed.
This time may be different, however.
"What we experience over the summer is nothing compared to what we will experience over the next two months if we don't change things very quickly," Escott said earlier this week.
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First score made by LAFC. (Sonia Garcia/Austonia)
Austin FC couldn't find the stamina to fight off a 2-0 loss against LAFC for their inaugural match on Saturday.
The match, which saw No. 21 Austin FC go head-to-head with No. 2 LAFC in Los Angeles, was broadcast nationally on FOX and FOX Deportes.
Salute the support. 👏
It's only the beginning for @AustinFC. pic.twitter.com/TduorqYr2y
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) April 18, 2021
Eleven players took the stage as Austin FC players for the first time, with five starters making their MLS debut. "Ringleader" Alex Ring took the captain's armband and wore it well. The defensive midfielder could be seen leading his teammates through their first ever match, but it wasn't enough to stage an Austin takeover in LA.
In the signature style of Head Coach Josh Wolff, the team played with quickness and intensity, nearly connecting on several fast breaks. It was harder for them to stay in front, however, something that Wolff credits with quick decision making and a tough LAFC defense.
"We have a quick attacking team, but I think when you make quick attacks and it fizzles it's just about some decision making," Wolff said. "Are we in position to finish attacks? If not, can we reestablish our attack and get stuff better?"
The club was given some generous breaks from No. 2 LAFC, who had one or both of their star DPs out for the half. While forward Diego Rossi is out for the entire match due to a hamstring injury, Carlos Vela was accidentally pulled too soon on what turned out to be a miscommunication.
"He gave us the sign that he needed to come off," LAFC Head Coach Bob Bradley said on broadcast. "I can't say more than maybe it's my fault."
LA pulled some dramatics and slowly gained more possession throughout the half, but ATXFC's defense wasn't initially as shaky as it seemed in preseason. Jhohan Romana has pulled his weight in getting the ball out of goal, and a 34-year old Matt Besler held his own in center back.
As the second half commenced, however, it became clear that LAFC had the advantage over Austin's first major league team.
Goalkeeper Brad Stuver had his work cut out for him, fending off 24 shot attempts, 11 of which were on goal. He didn't have much time to prepare, either: in the first 30 seconds of play, Stuver had already made a save to keep the match 0-0.
LAFC finally connected in the 61st minute of play as Corey Baird shot one into the bottom right corner. The team capitalized off their momentum and put one past Stuver a second time, drawing roars of approval from the LAFC crowd.
While some last-minute attempts from Jon Gallagher and others were made, Austin FC didn't have the endurance to bring a tie. After seven additional minutes of stoppage time, the club lost their first match 2-0.
While the scoreboard tells one story, Wolff said that the team did well considering the skill of LAFC and the pressure of their club debut.
"We've got to be realistic," Wolff said. "This is the first time this organization has been in front of TV with an opportunity to show itself and I think there were some promising moments. And we're going to maximize those and continue to try to develop those, but there's lots to build on."
The team may have lost, but it still won the support of thousands of Verde fans, dozens of which made it to watch their team's first match. When Stuver and the team made it to bthe stadium, Los Verdes fans were already there to show support, and Stuver said his wife saw the same back in Austin.
"The moment that we pulled into the stadium, we saw Black and Verde fans cheering us on as we got to the stadium," Stuver said. "During warm up, you can just look around and see different groups sitting in different sections of the stadium and it's just truly amazing to see the support in our first game. We know that we want to give the fans everything, because this we play for the city and we play for them."
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