Swine Flu Scare: Hospitals Step Up Services

Since the swine flu scare began in New York City, hospitals in many neighborhoods have seen a big increase in traffic from people who believe they might be stricken with the H1N1 virus. Some are, but most are not, doctors say.

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Jamaica Hospital Medical Center has set up two mobile units outside the emergency room just to accommodate the extra patients with flu-like symptoms.

The first stop for visitors is in the lobby. A hospital worker there asks if you have flu symptoms. If yes, you get sent around the corner to the outdoor triage tables and then to the mobile unit treatment center -- one is for adults, one for kids.

Dr. Geoffrey Doughlin, the chairman of emergency medicine, says that over the last few days the hospital has seen about 200 more patients that the usual daily volume.

The recent swine flu related deaths in New York City have created more concern among parents.

"I was worried because you see on the TV that one principal died," said one mom. She brought her 15-year-old daughter, who has flu symptoms, to Jamaica Hospital.

Doctors say they have seen a lot of children with flu-like symptoms. But they also say that parents should not necessarily bring their kids to the emergency room when they are sick.

So when should you bring your child to the ER?

"Use the emergency room basically for extreme cases," says Dr. Eliott Friedman. "Certainly, if [your children] have trouble breathing -- I don't mean a stuffy nose -- but real trouble breathing."

But if your child has more routine symptoms such as coughing, cold, stuffy nose, or fever, then go to your pediatrician, Friedman says.

"Those are things that can be handled very safely and very well -- and no differently -- at your primary care doctor than in the emergency department," he says.

The Health Department says more than 100 people around the city have been hospitalized, but most cases have not been critical.

Dr. Scott Harper of the Health Department says that fewer than 10 patients were on ventilators on Wednesday, and not all of them necessarily have swine flu.
 

HEALTH DEPARTMENT BLOG ABOUT H1N1