Emergency care on Dec. 31 is already on many minds

Monday, Aug. 16, 1999 | 1:46 a.m.

New Year's Eve will be Las Vegas' party of the century, but for health care providers in the valley the celebration will be one big headache.

Estimates vary, but some expect as many as 1.5 million visitors to flood the city for the turn-of-the-millennium revelry. Those visitors -- and the medical problems they will have while here -- could overwhelm already busy emergency rooms, officials fear.

On top of that, officials are worried that Y2K bugs could disrupt computer systems, although they expect most problems associated with the year-2000 rollover to be limited and localized.

In preparation for the rush a working group with representatives from the valley's hospitals, fire departments, ambulance services, ambulatory-care centers and the Clark County Health District have been meeting monthly to plot strategy.

Many health and emergency-response professionals will not be celebrating at the stroke of midnight.

"We're all going to be working," Tim Szymanski, Las Vegas Fire Department spokesman.

"All my doctors are going to be asked to stay in town for at least the four-day weekend," Dr. Graham Wilson, director of Sunrise Hospital's emergency room, said. Because of Sunrise's proximity to the Strip -- less than 2 miles away -- Wilson expects that he and his staff will have their hands full.

Emergency-response personnel will set up a triage station near the Strip to weed out real, life-threatening emergencies from those that are simply people who are intoxicated, he said.

A key on New Year's Eve will be flexibility, Wilson said.

Wilson said a coordinated, flexible response is essential to help those who need it. Wilson has seen past New Year's Eve parties get out of hand, as well as disasters such as the November 1980 MGM Grand Hotel fire, which killed 84 and injured nearly 700. He said the emergency-response community will do "whatever it takes" to avoid another tragedy.

"The response will go where it is needed," he said.

Szymanski said a focus for the city will be the Fremont Street Experience, although units will be staffed and equipped with emergency-medical equipment throughout the city.

At Fremont Street, bicycle paramedics with medical equipment will be ready to bring treatment where it is needed, Szymanski said.

That is typical for any large event, he said. What isn't typical is that the city will open its Emergency Operations Center so that other city departments, such as Public Works, can respond to an emergency situation.

Not only will hundreds of thousands of visitors be here, "but we also worry about all the regular things, like illegal fireworks," he said.

Las Vegas and Clark County agencies are working together so that any need will get a quick, coordinated response, Szymanski said.

"I think the greatest thing is that everybody's working together and working together really well," he said.

St. Rose Dominican Hospital, like other hospitals throughout the valley, will have a full staff to accept emergency cases.

The hospital has created a team especially for New Year's Eve that includes physicians, nurses, security and "a communications component," Shauna Walch, hospital spokeswoman. The effort includes nearly every hospital department, and representatives from those departments have been meeting in-house for more than a year to prepare for New Year's Eve, Walsh said.

The hospital also is adding special phone lines to a "command post" created expressly for the expected rush, she said.

St. Rose Dominican Hospital may be in better shape than other hospitals in the valley. The Henderson hospital is close to completing construction that will double the size of its emergency room by mid-November, Walch said.

A big part of the working group's efforts will be public education, said Dr. Donald Kwalick, chief health officer for the Clark County Health District. That means not only asking residents not to use emergency rooms unless absolutely necessary, but also getting the same information to the hundreds of thousands of visitors.

He said the working group will get information to the hospitality industry, such as hotels and resorts, so that guests know the alternatives to the emergency room.

The problem is not a new one, Kwalick said. People often use emergency rooms as their first choice for medical treatment, even when a private doctor or ambulatory-care center would better serve their needs.

But during an event such as the New Year's Eve celebration, that problem can potentially interfere with a health care center's ability to serve people who are truly in a life-threatening situation, he said.

"The emergency room is just that. It's for emergencies," Kwalick said.

Some things that qualify as real emergencies include difficulty breathing, pain or a feeling of pressure in the chest, broken bones, severe bleeding or a blow to the head that causes a loss of consciousness, dizziness or a loss of vision. For those problems, he said, people should call 911 or go immediately to a hospital emergency room.

Things that don't include minor lacerations, flu-like symptoms, sore throats, ear infections, sprains or muscle strains. See a doctor or go to any of the dozens of ambulatory-care and urgent-care clinics scattered throughout the valley for those symptoms, Kwalick said.

Many clinics will be open extended hours during the New Year's Eve weekend, he said.