What to know about Memphis area emergency rooms as respiratory illnesses run rampant

Micaela A Watts, Memphis Commercial Appeal
·2 min read

Memphis is sick, and the emergency rooms are slammed, again.

Similar to peak moments of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. and the Mid-South are seeing high levels of community transmission of respiratory viruses including the latest iteration of the flu, the latest COVID-19 variant, and Respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV.

This is resulting in many emergency departments hitting "critical advisory status," a term that informs emergency crews that an emergency department has exhausted resources, and patients should be taken to another hospital if at all possible. Wait times at some local emergency departments are topping 24 hours.

According to the Tennessee Department of Health, Baptist Memorial Hospital, Baptist Memorial Hospital-Collierville, Methodist Hospital-Germantown, Methodist University Hospital, Methodist Hospital-North, Methodist Hospital-South, Methodist University Hospital, Regional One Health, St. Francis Hospital, and the Veterans Affairs Medical Hospital were all classified as critical throughout the day Wednesday.

Parked ambulances from the Memphis Fire Department and other agencies fill the driveway near the ambulance entrance at Methodist Le Bonheur Germantown Hospital on the afternoon of Dec. 9 , 2020.
Parked ambulances from the Memphis Fire Department and other agencies fill the driveway near the ambulance entrance at Methodist Le Bonheur Germantown Hospital on the afternoon of Dec. 9 , 2020.

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Hospitals in DeSoto County and women and children's hospitals in the area were listed as "normal" on the TDOH data dashboard Wednesday.

The Shelby County Health Department reported Wednesday the rolling seven-day average for new COVID-19 cases reported was 565 new cases a day as of Jan. 6. The true number is likely substantially higher, said Dr. Shirin Mazumder, an infectious disease specialist with Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare.

"Some of those numbers are an underestimation of what's really going on because you know people are taking home tests, and those don't necessarily get reported," Mazumder said.

The strain on Memphis healthcare infrastructure also applies to ambulances, and the number of Memphis Fire Department ambulances is sometimes outmatched by the number of calls. This has been the case even before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mazumder, who sees patients at Methodist-affiliated medical centers, noted it's not only COVID-19 sending the masses to hospitals. The latest data she observed showed 19.3% of emergency department visits are flu-related, up from 3.6% this time last year.

Hospital officials urge anyone experiencing a life-threatening emergency to call 911, but also advise that arriving by ambulance doesn't guarantee a patient will be seen sooner; the triage protocol hospitals use also applies to patients who arrive via ambulance.

Micaela Watts is a reporter for The Commercial Appeal covering hospitals, healthcare, and issues tied to resource access. She can be reached at micaela.watts@commercialappeal.com.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis ERs at critical advisory again, long wait times: What to know