Swine flu claims sixth life; hospital sets up triage tents
BY JAMES BURGER, Californian staff writer
jburger@bakersfield.com | Wednesday, Oct 14 2009 06:06 PM
Last Updated Wednesday, Oct 14 2009 06:06 PM
A 25-year-old woman died Tuesday from complications of the H1N1 flu virus, which has put 66 Kern County residents in the hospital this year, said Public Health Services Director Matt Constantine.
The woman’s story is likely to be repeated here as the fall flu season continues.
Over the last week, the emergency room at Memorial Hospital has seen record volumes of patients. Hospital Director of Emergency Services Jennifer Cook said the emergency department is handling between 210 and 230 patients.
That breaks records swine flu recorded in May when the hospital’s previous highest attendance of 180 was shattered by a 207-patient day.
Overwhelmed by the numbers, the hospital on Wednesday moved its triage and treatment functions for flu patients into tents in the doctor’s parking lot.
Patients with mild to moderate flu symptoms are evaluated immediately and treated in the tents, given prescriptions to handle their symptoms and discharged with instructions to go home, stay home, sleep a lot, drink a lot of fluids and stay away from healthy people, Cook said.
The tents, Cook said, keep sick people away from other emergency room patients and relieve the cramped conditions in the emergency room halls and waiting room.
“We needed to cohort the patients who have those flu-type symptoms,” Cook said. “They’re not getting any different care than they would get in the emergency department.”
Seriously ill patients with high fevers and other conditions like pneumonia, who cannot care for themselves, are being admitted to the hospital.
By Wednesday afternoon, Cook said, 30 people had been treated and released through the tents — a total slowed a bit by light rain.
Kern Medical Center has also changed procedures to handle rising worry about the “swine flu.”
Restricted visitation rules to fight the spread of the disease have actually been well-received by patients, said CEO Paul Hensler.
“Our visitors and patients have been surprisingly understanding. I really thought there would be more concern,” Hensler said. “I think they really understand it’s for their protection.”
Public Health has also been swamped with inquiries about the illness.
“We’re getting a number of calls — just a tremendous number - so much so that we’ve had to bring in people to answer phones,” Constantine said.
And the agency distributed all of the 2,000 doses of H1N1 nasal mist vaccine it received last week in a couple well-attended public clinics.
Patients waiting for the clinic on Saturday were lined up in a great loop around the parking lot of the Public Health building.
Hensler still has not received any of the H1N1 vaccine at KMC, but he stockpiled doses of the more traditional seasonal flu vaccine and has been able to weather a recent shortage on the non-H1N1 cure.
The California Department of Public Health said it will have an update Thursday on pandemic influenza and the vaccine delivery status for both seasonal flu and H1N1 flu.
Other health care organizations are dealing with different flu-related complications.
Steve Schilling, CEO of Clinica Sierra Vista, said he received 1,400 doses of the H1N1 nasal mist vaccine. What he’s running short of is the seasonal flu shot.
“What last drop we have of our stockpile is going out as we speak — it’ll be gone by the end of the week,” he said.
25 students on school trip reportedly got H1N1 flu
by Edythe Jensen - Oct. 14, 2009 05:22 PM
The Arizona Republic .
More than 25 students on a recent Southeast Valley school bus field trip contracted the H1N1 flu, Assistant Fire Chief Marc Walker said. The incident is giving Chandler emergency workers another sign that things could get worse in coming weeks and residents must be more vigilant to prevent spreading the disease, Walker said.
Walker briefed the Chandler Neighborhood Advisory Commission on Tuesday, telling members that the city is prepared for an outbreak that could sicken nearly half of the population before the end of the year, leaving government offices, hospitals and businesses seriously understaffed.
The assistant chief learned of the post-field trip outbreak from another firefighter whose children were on the trip, became ill and tested positive for the virus.
Walker said outside the commission meeting that it was in the Chandler Unified School District trip but that he did not know which school sponsored the excursion. On Wednesday, Fire Chief Jeff Clark said the field trip was from a Southeast Valley school but not one in the Chandler district. He declined to name the institution.
“It is not our place as a fire department to release information about another school district,” he said.
Walker said the firefighter whose children became ill after the trip “is not comfortable releasing family medical information” or the school’s identity.
Terry Locke, spokesman for the Chandler Unified School District, said he hadn’t heard about the illnesses, and campuses are no longer required to report H1N1 cases to district officials.
The district has stepped up efforts to educate parents and students about preventative measures like hand-washing and keeping ill students home.
Walker said the city is developing a system to report and track cases of H1N1 among municipal employees. Chandler has become more vigilant lately about sanitizing work surfaces and conference areas used by multiple employees and educating workers about healthful practices. “Don’t shake hands if you don’t have to,” he said.
“We’re at the beginning of a four- to eight-week cycle,” Walker told the commission, urging them to spread information in neighborhoods about stepped-up sanitation practices, vigilant hand-washing and staying home from work or school when ill.
The new flu strain is expected to be more disruptive than others because people lack natural immunity and few have been vaccinated. The first 200 doses of the vaccine to arrive in Chandler will come this week and be given to firefighters, Walker said.
The next batch won’t come until November and will likely be set aside for pregnant women and young children.
Chandler also is preparing for the possibility of having to temporarily cut services or close some libraries to preserve critical municipal functions if large numbers of employees call in sick. Personnel shortages could bring cuts to bus and light-rail services and will likely affect staffing in stores, banks, doctors’ offices and hospitals, Walker said. Supplies of prescription anti-viral medications are being depleted at local drug stores; so are their stocks of over-the-counter cold and flu medicines, he told the commission.
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2009/10/14/20091014cr-flu1016.html