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| RSV outbreak and hospital capacity difficulties continue before Thanksgiving |
RSV outbreak and hospital capacity difficulties continue before Thanksgiving. Doctors have been expressing concern about the ongoing RSV outbreak for weeks. Washington's pediatric hospitals are in crisis mode due to the respiratory virus, with some facilities operating at 200% to 300% capacity. According to Seattle Children's Hospital, it is accommodating the surge of children by using corridors and storage spaces. Bay Area hospitals putting up overflow tents to deal with a surge in pediatric RSV cases
Healthcare professionals must also deal with Thanksgiving this week. Many hospitals want to run with fewer employees in order to offer medical staff members a well-earned Christmas vacation. However, the timing couldn't be worse as RSV case counts continue to rise.
Mom Kara Graham described the scene after bringing her kid to the Mary Bridge Children's Hospital emergency room as "just a sea of coughs everywhere." "Worried parents, critically ill children, and nurses doing everything they can. but a lot of confusion.
While receiving treatment for RSV for six days, Graham's 5-year-old daughter witnessed the medical situation firsthand. According to Kara, the ambulance took Kara's kid to Mary Bridge, but she still had to wait for a bed to become available.
The president of the Washington Academy of Family Physicians, Dr. Mark Johnson, stated that "That is unhappily not an unusual narrative to me."
According to Johnson, tales like Graham's highlight the present-day capacity constraints of hospitals. Even the sickest patients may have trouble getting timely care in some locations. RSV cases in children are increasing at previously unheard-of rates. Doctors have been expressing concern about the ongoing RSV outbreak for weeks.
Those who were meant to receive RSV in 2020 or 2021 are now receiving it in 2022. Therefore, we're seeing perhaps three, four, or even ten times as many instances as we anticipated in our neighborhood, according to Johnson.
According to Dr. Tony Woodward of Seattle Children's Hospital, the difficulty healthcare professionals have had meeting patient demand will undoubtedly worsen this week.
Before the hospital's decreased personnel for the holidays, Woodward declares, "We're terrified. Service for those who need it will merely be delayed as a result."
In addition to healthcare staffing, one of the main issues is bed availability. There are just 500 pediatric hospital beds in Washington. Hospitals all around the nation are dealing with the same problems.
Our hospital's capacity has diminished with time, claims Johnson. But when we see a spike in sickness like this, you know, we are ill-equipped and at capacity.
President Joe Biden was requested by the American Academy of Pediatrics to declare the RSV outbreak a national emergency. Johnson concurs. "I do think we are experiencing a national emergency right now."
