Florida ERs overrun with RSV, flu, COVID cases this winter: What doctors recommend

Central Florida ERs packed with patients

COVID, RSV, and the flu are keeping doctors busy this winter, but not everyone is going to the right place for help. Before rushing to the emergency room, doctors say, it’s best to weigh your symptoms and know your options before heading to the hospital.

MELBOURNE, Fla. - Winter sickness is surging, and patients are packing into local emergency rooms.

COVID, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and the flu are keeping doctors busy this winter, but not everyone is going to the right place for help. Before rushing to the emergency room, doctors say, it’s best to weigh your symptoms and know your options before heading to the hospital.

"It is a very busy time with upper respiratory illnesses and especially with COVID, Flu, and RSV," said Dr. Jayde George, a family medicine physician with Health First.

She says not all symptoms require a trip to the ER, but that's where most people end up.

"There are a lot of options out there that they might not realize," George added.

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Some alternatives include telehealth, primary care offices, and urgent care, which are open late, seven days a week.

"Too many people go there for their first resort. When people are really ill, they have to sit and wait when they shouldn’t have to," said Vickie Duhamel, a Health First patient who only visits the ER as a last resort.

Others, like Frances Zito, avoid the ER so they don’t have to deal with "the long wait and also the germ factor."

Avoiding the ER if it isn’t an emergency helps doctors because fewer people waiting means faster care for someone in a crisis.

"Two or three hours just to get in to talk about it," Zito said when explaining how long she has had to wait at the ER before.

Avoiding the ER can also save you money. An average urgent care visit is around $200, but an ER bill usually costs $1,000-plus.

"That pay is appropriate," Dr. George added. "But, if we can take care of that for a lesser cost and more convenient way, we love to do that for our patients."

When it comes to your health, physicians still want patients to take symptoms seriously.

"Go with your gut," said Dr. George, who often advises her patients to consider telehealth options about how fast and safe the service is.

In telehealth and urgent care, you can get diagnosed fast, get prescriptions, and receive answers about what you’re dealing with before ever ending up at the hospital.

Health First also has free resources, including symptom questionnaires, for anyone in the state of Florida on their website. You also don’t have to be a Health First patient to access the care guidance information.