Freezing rain and icy sidewalks sent several Montrealers to already overcrowded emergency rooms Monday morning, worsening pressure on a health-care system grappling with a severe flu season.<\/p>\n
At least seven people with fractures and concussions were treated at the Centre hospitalier de l\u2019Universit\u00e9 de Montr\u00e9al (CHUM) downtown after slipping on icy surfaces. By Monday afternoon, CHUM\u2019s emergency room was packed with 159 patients, and those on stretchers were waiting an average of nearly 17 hours.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s certain that today, with the outside temperature, we have a lot of falls, a lot of calls to our pre-hospital emergency services, particularly with Urgences-Sant\u00e9 in the Montreal-Laval region. We are all looking together to see how we can deal with this situation,\u201d commented V\u00e9ronique Wilson, Director General of Coordination, Access, Integrated Emergency and Frontline Services at Sant\u00e9 Qu\u00e9bec, in an interview.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a situation that occurs during the winter season, and also during flu season. We have prepared to deal with this situation, but it explains why our rates are higher than usual for emergencies, but we are currently under control,\u201d she adds.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The spike in injuries comes as influenza cases continue to rise sharply across Quebec. According to the Institut national de sant\u00e9 publique du Qu\u00e9bec, flu infections have already surpassed last year\u2019s peak. For the week ending Dec. 20, more than 6,100 cases were reported province-wide, compared with fewer than 500 during the same period last year.<\/p>\n
MUHC told CityNews in a statement: <\/p>\n
\u201cThe early start of winter and a particularly virulent flu virus have contributed to an increase in emergency room visits this year. However, the situation has not changed with the recent shift in weather. It remains important for people to adapt their activities to the temperature.<\/p>\n
\u201cEach year, close to 50 per cent of emergency room visits are for non-urgent problems, which adds pressure to emergency services and can delay care for patients with more serious conditions. Taking the time to evaluate how urgent your health concern is helps ensure everyone receives the right care at the right time. People are encouraged to call Info-Sant\u00e9 at 8-1-1 or to consult their doctor, local network clinic or pharmacist. For urgent healthcare needs, emergency departments remain available, though wait times may vary depending on occupancy levels and patient condition, with the most serious cases seen first.\u201d<\/p>\n
Due to holiday gatherings, which are conducive to the transmission of respiratory viruses, Quebec Health anticipates an increase in emergency room visits. \u201cWe believe it will continue to rise over the next few days, and we hope that we will soon reach the peak of the flu, and then that it will subside afterward,\u201d says Wilson.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hospitals across the city reported severe overcrowding. The Royal Victoria Hospital was operating at more than double its capacity, with stretcher patients waiting over 25 hours on average.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe also have good results in this area regarding referrals. 37 per cent of people who call 8-1-1 will have their concerns addressed through self-care advice at home. 30 per cent are referred to medical clinics, and only one in six calls to Info-Sant\u00e9 will be directed to our emergency room. So, it\u2019s really worth calling Info-Sant\u00e9 if you have health concerns to get the right guidance and avoid the emergency room whenever possible,\u201d says Wilson.\u00a0<\/p>\n
While pediatric emergency rooms were less strained, health officials note that seniors and young people aged five to 19 remain among the most vulnerable groups this flu season. Province-wide, emergency room occupancy stood at 128 per cent Monday morning, with officials warning conditions could worsen as flu season reaches its peak.<\/p>\n
\u2014With files from The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Freezing rain and icy sidewalks sent several Montrealers to already overcrowded emergency rooms Monday morning, worsening pressure on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":382421,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[64,63,137,500],"class_list":{"0":"post-382420","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-healthcare"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=382420"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382420\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/382421"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=382420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=382420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=382420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}