Flu Cases Flood Emergency Rooms
By MICHELLE RUSHLO
.c The Associated Press
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) - Linda Lindquist thought things might slow down at
Thunderbird Samaritan Medical Center after the Christmas weekend.
But the flood of sniffly, feverish patients that started flowing into her
emergency room last week has just kept coming and coming.
The hospital turned to extra staff and volunteers to help comfort patients.
And for several days in a row, it's diverted ambulances until it could get
the waiting room under control.
``It's at disastrous levels with the number of people we're seeing,''
Lindquist said. ``Not just in terms of us, everybody is seeing it. We're
overwhelmed.''
Hospitals throughout the Phoenix area are being overrun by patients
complaining of coughs, fevers and sore throats.
Meanwhile, emergency rooms in Southern California and Wisconsin also report
being flooded with flu patients.
Indeed, the flu season nationwide has picked up noticeably in the last couple
of weeks, said Dr. Carolyn Buxton Bridges of the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention.
It's too early to say for sure, but the flu season looks like it may peak in
January this year - a month earlier than 1998, she said.
Nineteen states reported widespread or regional flu activity during the week
of Dec. 12-18, according to the most recent CDC data. Roughly 3 percent of
doctor visits in the states were related to flu-like symptoms, the agency
said.
The rate was 6 percent in the Southwest and Pacific states.
With many doctors' offices closed for the holiday weekend, patients turned to
hospitals for treatment in a ``tidal wave,'' said Dr. Joseph Kezele, a
physician at Thunderbird.
In some Phoenix-area emergency rooms, flu patients had to wait 12 to 18 hours
to see a doctor. Others couldn't get hospital beds, even when their physician
called.
Walter Adams, 76, was trying to get admitted to Thunderbird for the second
day in a row on Tuesday.
He and his 74-year-old wife both went to their doctor's office on Monday with
fevers and coughing. Adams' wife was admitted to the hospital Monday night,
but no bed was available for him.
On Tuesday, he waited for admission in a triage bed.
``When I get a cough, it just tears me up,'' he said, clutching its metal
rails.
Last week, Southern California hospitals, including those in Los Angeles,
Orange and San Diego counties, were rerouting patients while they dealt with
packed rooms.
Reporting statewide outbreaks in December were Montana, Utah and Washington.
Those reporting concentrated outbreaks were Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii,
Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York,
Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, and Wisconsin.
