People encouraged to consider own condition before visit

PLATTSBURGH — The CVPH Medical Center Emergency Department is seeing an unprecedented increase in patients.

Providers suggest that people with flu symptoms assess their own situation before seeking medical help.

On a typical day, the CVPH ER sees 140 patients, on average. Those numbers topped 200 last Sunday and rose to 233 Monday, an all-time record for patients seen in one day at the hospital.

"Of those patients, 84 were flu or suspected flu cases," said Dr. Ted Klaudt, medical director for the Emergency Department.

EXPANDED SPACE
In response to the massive increase in patient numbers, CVPH has converted its ambulance bay into a treatment area for people presenting flu-like symptoms. The special area has room to see up to eight patients at a time.

But most of the patients coming in with symptoms are not being treated specifically for flu and did not need medical attention.

"That doesn't mean those patients weren't sick," said Dr. Wouter Rietsema, medical director for CVPH Medical Center.

"They felt miserable. But the bulk of those patients were fundamentally healthy. There was nothing we could do to treat them."

MOST SENT HOME
ER staff will see all patients who come in for services, but the most common advice for flu patients is to go home, take Tylenol and Motrin for fever, drink a lot of fluids and get plenty of rest.

Flu medication is available on a limited basis to treat patients who have other medical conditions that put them at risk.

Tamiflu and other flu-prevention drugs are not typically provided for otherwise healthy patients.

Children under age 2, pregnant women, people with asthma, heart disease, liver disease, kidney disease or people who are undergoing treatment for cancer have underlying conditions that warrant use of flu-specific drugs.

Antiviral drugs are not like antibiotics, which can cure bacterial infections like strep throat. Their impact on the severity of the flu is limited, Klaudt said.

LIMITED TESTING
Patients also visit the ER believing they will be diagnosed with either the H1N1 or seasonal flu. However, the Centers for Disease Control and New York State Health Department are recommending against blanket testing for the flu.

If a patient comes in with fever, dry cough, sore throat, runny nose and muscle aches, the likelihood is that person has a flu. Testing to verify whether it is swine flu is typically reserved for people who are critically ill.

Several symptoms could suggest medical attention is needed, however. If a person has shortness of breath, can't keep food down, has chest pain that's not related to a cough or has an unusual rash or bruising, medical care may be warranted.

SPREADING THE FLU
Of the 84 patients who went to the CVPH Emergency Department on Monday, only a handful received more than medical advice from the physicians.

"For every person I saw, I was looking at another person who was with them now being exposed to the flu," said Russ Hartung, associate medical director for the ER.

"By seeing so many people who didn't need to be here, the seriously ill patients are having to wait longer."

The extra space being used for flu cases was not opened as a clinic to allow more flu patients access to the ED but as a space to help reduce congestion in the department, Hartung added.

"People can triage themselves" to determine whether they should seek medical help or stay home and rest, he said.

E-mail Jeff Meyers at: jmeyers@pressrepublican.com