Patients flooding local ERs in fear they have swine flu

By Kaye Spector
Health and Medical Reporter, The Plain Dealer

Unnecessary fear over swine flu is clogging up area emergency rooms.

Three of Cleveland’s major hospitals - MetroHealth Medical
Center, University Hospitals Case Medical Center and the Cleveland
Clinic - said Tuesday they are seeing unprecedented numbers of people
coming into their ERs with flu symptoms.

The vast majority of these visits are unwarranted because the
cases are mild and don’t require emergency medical attention. After
being seen by a doctor, most patients are being told to go back home,
rest, drink fluids, take Tylenol and avoid contact with others.

The emergency room at MetroHealth has seen a record number of
people with flulike symptoms in recent days - from about 36 people a day
last week to 60 a day this week, said Dr. Charles Emerman, chairman of
the emergency medical department.

MetroHealth doctors say the spike is prompted by unwarranted
fear surrounding H1N1 flu, also called swine flu.

“I think people are really worried about this more than they
need to be,” said Dr. Jennifer Hanrahan, chairwoman of the
hospital’s infectious control committee. “Most people are going
to have a real mild illness. The best thing for these people to do is to
stay home.”

MetroHealth doctors made a public appeal Tuesday for flu
patients to come to the emergency department only if they have serious
symptoms. They stressed that for most people, the swine flu will be no
more dangerous than seasonal flu.

Patients with flu symptoms coming to the Clinic’s ER nearly
tripled over what the staff usually sees, from about 12 to about 30,
said Dr. Thomas Tallman. Most of the cases there too were mild, he said.

Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital, which is part of UH, is
seeing an overall increase in ER patients, from about 100 a day to 150 a
day; about half of those numbers are young flu patients.

The number of flu patients coming to Case Medical Center’s
emergency department also jumped in recent days, from the usual 30 a day
to nearly 50 a day. But UH says it is actually seeing more cases of
adults with severe flu symptoms and attributes it to underlying medical
conditions.

In recent days, several of the hospitals have created separate
areas within the ERs for people with flu symptoms to prevent spread of
the virus.

 MetroHealth had a roofed tent set up inside the ER, but took it
down after one day of operation after learning from Cleveland fire
officials that it violated the city fire code by blocking the water
sprinklers on the ceiling. Until the hospital comes up with another plan
to separate flu patients, staff members are handing out masks to people
with flu symptoms in the waiting room.

The Clinic created a separate room that patients enter directly
from the ER entrance. Tallman said he is working on plans to enlarge the
area because the number of patients is expected to increase.

In recent days, Rainbow also created a separate waiting room for its young
patients without flu symptoms. UH and Rainbow also are handing out
surgical masks to ER patients with flu symptoms.