PORTLAND, Ore — A substantial drop in emergency room visits across the Portland and Vancouver areas has health officials worried life-threatening conditions, not tied to COVID-19, are going untreated.
As a result, they’re issuing public warnings about symptoms and reminders about the measures local hospitals are taking to treat ER patients safely amid the pandemic.
“We are experiencing nearly a 50 percent drop in our average daily emergency department visits,” said Dr. Jason Hanley in a news release.
Hanley is the Emergency Medicine Director of PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center.
“We have had several cases of patients coming in for serious, emergent health issues, including heart attacks and strokes, that have delayed care to the point it has impacted their outcome,” he said.
The news release, from Clark County Public Health, said Legacy Salmon Creek Medical Center has experience a similar decline in visits.
A rep from Oregon Health & Science University confirmed the same trend, saying they’ve seen a 30% drop.
Physicians quoted in Clark County’s release fear people are putting off visits, despite experiencing symptoms of deadly conditions like heart attacks and strokes.
“We know that calling 911 to seek immediate care saves lives,” said Dr. Ben John, Vancouver Clinic cardiologist. “As a cardiologist, I never want to see one of my patients delay getting the care they need. I know with COVID-19 patients have concerns coming into the office or going to the hospital.”
They assume, at least for most, those concerns stem from worries about being exposed to COVID-19.
As a result, they’re doing their best to assure the public that local hospitals are safe environments.
“Our emergency departments practice stringent infection control measures to minimize any risk to non-COVID patients. Our staff practices appropriate social distancing and we have limited the time patients stay in our waiting rooms,” said Dr. Dan Bissell at Legacy Salmon Creek Medical Center. “Additionally, Legacy Health requires all employees and providers to wear a mask, even when in administrative areas, when it is not possible to maintain a 6-foot distance from other individuals.”
They’re also using the opportunity to remind people of symptoms for deadly conditions, citing information from the American Heart Association:
Act F.A.S.T. during stroke
- Face drooping – Does one side of the face droop or is it numb? Ask the person to smile.
- Arm weakness – Is one arm weak or numb? Ask the person to raise both arms. Does one arm drift downward?
- Speech difficulty – Is speech slurred, are they unable to speak, or are they hard to understand? Ask the person to repeat a simple sentence, like “the sky is blue.” Is the sentence repeated correctly?
- Time to call 911 – If the person shows any of these symptoms, even if the symptoms go away, call 911 and get them to the hospital immediately.
Heart attack symptoms
- Chest discomfort. Most heart attacks involve discomfort in the center of the chest that lasts more than a few minutes — it may go away and then return. It can feel like uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain.
- Discomfort in other areas of the upper body. Symptoms can include pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach.
- Shortness of breath. This can occur with or without chest discomfort.
- Other possible signs include breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea or lightheadedness.
- Women’s most common heart attack symptom is chest pain. Some women are more likely to experience shortness of breath, nausea/vomiting and back or jaw pain.