Grady ICU Preps for H1N1 Patients

Inside Grady Health System's Intensive Care Unit, the beds are full with the normal trauma patients and the severely ill. With a new flu capable of making some people very sick, very quickly north Georgia's only trauma center is working to get ready.

Dr. Leon Haley, Grady's Director of Emergency Medicine said Tuesday that the hospital's 64 intensive care beds are already full with trauma and other severely ill patients.

The hospital is looking for ways it can expand and absorb more patients if necessary.

"The good news is that we've had enough of a warning about a big flu surge coming this fall, that we've been in ongoing discussions both internally and externally to make sure that we're ready," said Dr. Haley. "Our job, and what our staff's responsibility is, is to try and be ready for everything. And that's the role we place as a regional care center, as a level one trauma center to be able to say, you know what, any disaster can show up at any time and we need to be ready for it."

Most people who get the H1N1 flu will experience only mild symptoms but a small number of patients, anywhere from 10 percent to 15 percent will develop more severe symptoms. Many of these patients will be younger in their teens and 20s and 30s. Many of them are becoming quite ill.

The World Health Organization says one big challenge in the southern hemisphere, which just went through its winter flu season, was providing enough ventilators and providing specialized care for patients who experienced severe respiratory distressed and needed around the clock care.

Grady has just over 100 ventilators, but is looking at gaps in the system and trying to find ways to fill them.

"Some of those gaps obviously are equipment, so if everybody needs equipment, if Emory needs equipment, if Grady needs equipment, other institutions need equipment, equipment is going to be stretched for everybody," said Dr. Haley.

Grady is also planning its staffing. Equipment like N-95 respirators are recommended for staffers who are in direct contact with patients suspected of having the H1N1 virus.