Tents Set Up In Parking Garage for Flu Patients In St. Louis Children’s Hospital
Wednesday, Sep 30, 2009 @07:52pm CDT
Officials at a St. Louis Children’s Hospital are concerned about the number of potential Swine Flu cases.
So much that they are setting up tents outside the hospital just in case.
They’re called Emergency Unit Overflows and can act as a so-called mini ER.
Crews spent Tuesday afternoon putting up two tents in the parking garage.
Up to twenty kids can be treated there.
Hospital officials say the ER is seeing 30% more kids than normal and the tents give them more room.
The hospital assured patients and parents that the tents will not be used to isolate kids with flu.
Instead, children with non-life threatening conditions will be seen there.
Dr. Alexis Elward of the Children’s Hospital says,” this will help us treat patients more efficiently and more quickly. We hope that we’ll improve patient satisfaction so that we can have patients waiting in the emergency room for shorter periods of time.”
Other hospitals around the country are also using tents to help handle overcrowded emergency rooms.
Tents are popping up in cities including Memphis, Nashville, Austin, and Atlanta.
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