Winnipeg emergency departments experience spike in visits
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June 6, 2009 by fluoutbreak
CBC News
The number of daily visits to Winnipeg emergency departments has increased by 25 per cent in the last month, and almost all of the 80 intensive care beds are full, a provincial health official says.
Jan Currie, chief nursing officer for the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, said the increase — to 1,000 visits from 800 — includes several patients with respiratory illnesses. Many of them require ventilators, but only a few have been diagnosed with the H1N1 virus, also known as swine flu, she said.
Keeping the hospitals staffed has been challenging because some nurses and medical support staff have also been sick, Currie added.
“We don’t want them to come to work if they are sick — just like anyone in the general population — so some staff are working overtime and we are seeing both critical care and emergency departments, you know, very busy,” she said, adding it is unusual to see so many people with flu-like symptoms at this time of the year.
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