Flu season this year may mean more wait times at emergency rooms. Here’s why:
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MEMPHIS, Tenn. – If you or your kids have to go to the emergency room anytime soon, chances are you’ll have a long wait.
The combination of flu, COVID and RSV has created a ‘tripledemic’ filling up hospital beds across the Mid-South, and it’s leading to much longer wait times in emergency rooms.
“It’s more of a trifecta where we’re dealing with the flu, COVID and RSV,” Dr. Mark Castellaw, an internal medicine physician at BMG Wolf River Clinic said.
As respiratory virus season ramps up, emergency rooms across the Mid-South are feeling the effects.
“Some of the people that are ending up in the emergency rooms are because they can’t get into their doctor’s offices. And just like our office, they are totally inundated with patients,” Dr. Castellaw said.
Fox13 checked in with Baptist and Methodist ER’s on Friday.
Some estimated minutes, and others estimated over a two-hour wait depending on a person’s conditions.
“Unfortunately, some of the patients that are not that acutely ill are taking up spaces for patients that are acutely ill,” Dr. Castellaw said.
When it comes to illness like flu and COVID, Dr. Castellaw said you should typically only go to the ER if you have underlying medical problems, or severe symptoms like difficulty breathing and chest pain.
“If you’re not having shortness of breath, extremely high fever, syncope, dizziness, try the minor med first and see if you can get a diagnosis and medication,” Dr. Castellaw said.
Even if you call 911 and are taken to the emergency room by ambulance, DeWayne Rose, the director of EMS for West Memphis, reminds patients they likely won’t be seen right away.
“People are under the impression that you can call 911 and whenever the ambulance brings you to the hospital, that they’ll take you right back,” Rose said. “They have that triage policy, and they are going to get those patients who need that urgent care, who need that medical assistance and they are going to prioritize you,” he said.
With so much sickness circulating in our community, emergency officials like Rose are reminding you to only go to the ER in the case of a true emergency.
Rose said that’s typically classified as someone experiencing chest pain or difficulty breathing, stroke symptoms, or significant physical trauma, such as broken bones, lacerations and concussions.
“If an ambulance is across town treating someone with a broken fingernail and we have a guy who was shot on the other side of town, we have to wait on that ambulance to get over there. And, you know, times of the essence,” he said.
“If you think it’s a priority, you should call because you know your body better than anyone. And if you are feeling like you are having a medical emergency, then we need to treat you.
Baptist officials say they have 59 flu patients and 54 COVID patients hospitalized across the system right now
You can find links for estimated Baptist ER wait times here.
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