Cook Children's ER treating high volume of patients, many non-emergency illnesses

Cook Children’s Medical Center urgently requests that parents remain vigilant and considerate in the coming days, weeks, and months.

The hospital in Fort Worth is dealing with high patient volumes, according to a press release on Wednesday.

As respiratory illnesses begin to spike, so do unnecessary trips to the emergency department, which could lead to unintended consequences.

Dr. Marcial Oquendo at Guadalupe Medical Clinic in North Dallas is gearing up for months of typical colds and has seen some cases of mycoplasma, also called walking pneumonia.

“They have a nagging cough; they have a little bit of a fever. That’s why we call it 'walking pneumonia,'" said Oquendo. “They’re walking fine. They’re not having to be carried. They look fine, they just have this nagging cough.”

While this atypical pneumonia can become severe in some children, he said it is usually something primary care physicians or health clinics can easily treat without a trip to the ER.

But that is what some families are opting to do.

Cook Children’s ER saw 572 patients on Tuesday and 842 patients at its seven urgent care centers, according to a spokesperson for the medical center.

According to the hospital, "these high volumes are being driven by a rise in respiratory illnesses, including RSD and Mycoplasma pneumonia (walking pneumonia)."

Dr. Stephanie Felton, DO, at Cook Children’s, said she understands the dilemma parents face when their child is sick.

“It’s a very hard decision, I think, as a parent to know where am I going to get the best treatment for what my kid is going through at this time,” she said.  “But I do think there are quite a few patients that come in that could be treated at urgent care at PCP's office, that could at least help triage and say, 'Hey, this is what we need to try initially, and we can go home, versus someone that needs to come to the emergency department where we're seeing these overwhelming numbers.”

Oquendo said this could lead to overextending limited resources and potentially forcing doctors to have children transferred to other hospitals.

“Now we know we’re against the clock,” he said. “We know we have hundreds of people out there in the waiting room, and some of them are going to be common colds, but we still have to check everyone.”

Cook Children’s is urging parents to ‘know where to go.’

Primary care providers or health clinics can easily treat illnesses from low-grade fevers and headaches to diarrhea.

Emergency department visits are urged if your child is having trouble breathing, has had a 100+ fever for at least five days, appears confused, and/or is unable to wake up or stay awake.

Unnecessary trips to the ER, doctors stress, could also have another unintended and potentially dangerous side effect.

“Definitely try to utilize those resources because ultimately, your child could be sitting in our waiting room for multiple hours, and if they weren't sick, they could pick up something while they're waiting here and get sicker,” said Felton. 

Oquendo urges families without health insurance to seek out low-cost or no-cost health clinics instead of heading straight for hospitals.

“Their chances of getting sick with something worse or added on during that visit is higher, so you’re risking getting sicker by going there,” said Oquendo. “You are sitting there for one, two, three hours waiting to be seen because they’re just packed, increases your chances of not only your child but everyone in your family of getting something else.”

Oquendo expects the majority of illnesses among otherwise healthy children to be reported between now and March and will likely involve one of 26 viruses with mild symptoms associated with a common cold.

Felton’s advice is to remain vigilant and help stop the spread.

“If your kid does have a fever, please keep them home from school or daycare, good hand washing and trying the best to just get through this lump of the season,” she said.