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The intense flu season many have warned about hit Queensway Carleton Hospital with a wallop this week, contributing to overcrowding that forced it to cancel 15 elective surgeries and set up temporary hospital beds in waiting rooms.
At one point Tuesday, the hospital emergency department ran out of IV poles.
“These are extraordinary circumstances,” said Colette Oeullete, who is in charge of bed flow and infection protection at the hospital.
The hospital is assessing the situation hour by hour, she said. On Monday evening, there were 14 patients in emergency waiting for beds in the already full hospital. By morning, that number had increased to 30, and patients needing to be admitted just kept coming.
The hospital declared an unprecedented “code orange” because it had used up all of its normal capacity and surge capacity for patients — despite the addition of seven temporary beds from the province aimed at preventing such situations this winter.
As a result, the hospital is forced to place patients temporarily in more “unconventional spaces” — including in waiting rooms used by diagnostic departments, said Oeullete.
“We are pulling out all the stops at this point.”
Queensway Carleton has never experienced the numbers of people waiting for beds that it is right now, she said.
Influenza is a key contributor to the spike at Queensway Carleton and there is little sign that the flu season many have been predicting would be intense has peaked. A high number of alternate level of care patients — those who aren’t well enough to return home but don’t need an acute care bed — is also a contributer to overcrowding at hospitals across the province.
Australia experienced a particularly deadly flu season last year, which is often a warning about what will hit the northern hemisphere. Until now in Ottawa, the flu season has not appeared to be worse than past years, but the situation at Queensway Carleton is an indication things are likely changing for the worse.
The Ottawa Hospital said Tuesday it is also experiencing higher-than-normal patient volumes at both the Civic and General campuses.
Oeulette said a significant number of people arriving at the hospital have flu-like symptoms. Hospitals in Ontario do not test patients in emergency to confirm whether their symptoms are actually the flu.
She noted that the primary strain of flu affecting people right now — A H3N2 — targets the elderly more than young people. In years when that is the dominant strain, she said, the hospital is busy.
She said there is little indication that the flu season has peaked yet, which means the pressure on Queensway Carleton and other hospitals will likely continue for some time.
So far, the flu season across Canada has been unusual because two strains — A and B — are circulating at the same time, which is unusual. Influenza B, which is normally seen in the spring, is circulating much earlier than usual and numbers are greater than in previous years.
Most hospitalizations for flu across Canada have been among people 65 and over.
epayne@postmedia.com
查看原文...
At one point Tuesday, the hospital emergency department ran out of IV poles.
“These are extraordinary circumstances,” said Colette Oeullete, who is in charge of bed flow and infection protection at the hospital.
The hospital is assessing the situation hour by hour, she said. On Monday evening, there were 14 patients in emergency waiting for beds in the already full hospital. By morning, that number had increased to 30, and patients needing to be admitted just kept coming.
The hospital declared an unprecedented “code orange” because it had used up all of its normal capacity and surge capacity for patients — despite the addition of seven temporary beds from the province aimed at preventing such situations this winter.
As a result, the hospital is forced to place patients temporarily in more “unconventional spaces” — including in waiting rooms used by diagnostic departments, said Oeullete.
“We are pulling out all the stops at this point.”
Queensway Carleton has never experienced the numbers of people waiting for beds that it is right now, she said.
Influenza is a key contributor to the spike at Queensway Carleton and there is little sign that the flu season many have been predicting would be intense has peaked. A high number of alternate level of care patients — those who aren’t well enough to return home but don’t need an acute care bed — is also a contributer to overcrowding at hospitals across the province.
Australia experienced a particularly deadly flu season last year, which is often a warning about what will hit the northern hemisphere. Until now in Ottawa, the flu season has not appeared to be worse than past years, but the situation at Queensway Carleton is an indication things are likely changing for the worse.
The Ottawa Hospital said Tuesday it is also experiencing higher-than-normal patient volumes at both the Civic and General campuses.
Oeulette said a significant number of people arriving at the hospital have flu-like symptoms. Hospitals in Ontario do not test patients in emergency to confirm whether their symptoms are actually the flu.
She noted that the primary strain of flu affecting people right now — A H3N2 — targets the elderly more than young people. In years when that is the dominant strain, she said, the hospital is busy.
She said there is little indication that the flu season has peaked yet, which means the pressure on Queensway Carleton and other hospitals will likely continue for some time.
So far, the flu season across Canada has been unusual because two strains — A and B — are circulating at the same time, which is unusual. Influenza B, which is normally seen in the spring, is circulating much earlier than usual and numbers are greater than in previous years.
Most hospitalizations for flu across Canada have been among people 65 and over.
epayne@postmedia.com
查看原文...
