Residents urged to avoid use of emergency rooms

Tuesday, March 19, 2002 | 9:44 a.m.

If it's not an emergency, don't use the emergency room or call for an ambulance.

That's the message from the Clark County Health District in the wake of an emergency room crisis that has led to hospitals diverting patients and paramedics reporting that more than 70 percent of their ambulance responses are for non-emergency situations.

"Residents can alleviate this problem by using emergency rooms and the 911 system for critical care situations only," Dr. Donald Kwalick, chief health officer for the health district, said.

"Primary care physicians, including family physicians, pediatricians and internists, and urgent care centers are the best means for receiving non-critical care," he said.

Non-critical care incidents include cuts that may require stitches, sprains, urinary tract infections, upper respiratory infections, ear infections, insect bites, rashes, sore throats, diarrhea and coughs and congestion, the health district said.

Hospitals have had to divert patients or have gone on "closure" status, a situation faced when there is a shortage of critical care and emergency room beds, in response to a higher volume of people using emergency rooms.

Between March 10 and 16, the county-run University Medical Center emergency room was in a closure mode for 20 hours.

Major private hospitals with the longest closures were Sunrise for 56 hours, St. Rose Sienna for nearly 48 hours and Desert Springs for 45 hours. Five other hospitals were on closure status for between 16 and 42 hours.

The problem is reaching critical proportions, especially with children being brought into emergency rooms for non-emergency care, hospital officials say.

"This issue isn't going away," said Dr. Meena Vohra, pediatric intensive care unit director at the University Medical Center, which between March 10 and 16 was on pediatric divert for 79 hours.

"By this point of the year, we should start seeing a number of pediatric patients decrease, but an increasing number of children are in need of medical care."

Sunrise Hospital was on pediatric divert for 75 hours during the same period, hospital officials said.

The Health District said paramedics are needlessly tied up in crowded emergency rooms when seven of every 10 calls they respond to are for non-emergencies.

It creates an even more serious problem for those in need of emergency care who might not be able to get an ambulance because it is tied up, officials said.