Cook Children's hospital goes into emergency status over RSV cases
FORT WORTH, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) — RSV cases continue to show up in North Texas, putting a strain on hospitals and healthcare staff. Cook Children's Hospital is speaking out again as they see an alarming number of people showing up at their facilities.
Staff has been so overwhelmed it has had to activate an Internal Disaster Code to have extra help.
Doctors said they're seeing patients coming in as quick as every two minutes, they advise if you're coming to the hospital or a clinic to pack your patience. Depending on your child's symptoms, the wait time could be 8-12 hours.
"The volume of kids that we're seeing is just unprecedented and they continue to come," said Cook Children's Emergency Department Physician Dr. Daniel Guzman.
He said they're seeing some patients come in every two minutes or so.
Health officials are in shock and overwhelmed by the amount of pediatric patients they're seeing with RSV, Flu and other upper respiratory illnesses.
Cook Childrens tells CBS 11 on Wednesday urgent care saw over 700 patients. The emergency room has seen 620 kids over the last 24 hours, on top of hospital beds and appointments being full almost every day.
DFW Hospital Council said 95% of pediatric beds in Trauma Service Area E, which covers 19 counties in North Texas including Dallas, Collin, and Tarrant Counties -- are occupied.
"I haven't seen any other times in 21 years that I've been here that we had to go to that status. Just the volume of kids we're seeing is just unprecedented," Guzman said. "That means more doctors that are coming in on days their not working in addition to our APP providers, we're even at this point mobilizing our ICU partners who are coming down to help us in the E today as well to move some of the patients."
Doctors said they will help those with more severe symptoms first.
"If you're not having trouble breathing, you're active, your child's active, they're playful, they're drinking and they're urinating then you can definitely seek care with your pediatrician first," Guzman said.
Doctors recommend calling and visiting your pediatrician first, unless symptoms get worse.
This influx of cases is alarming for staff because they're seeing a large amount of cases before we reach peak season. There are concerns as we inch closer to the holidays. Hospital staff is asking everyone to be patient and kind.