“We were having such a huge load of patients with flu-like symptoms these past two weeks,” ER Director Teresa Meade told the Coal Valley News.

According to Meade, in the past two weeks, the emergency room at Boone Memorial Hospital was seeing up to 96 patients a day with flu-like symptoms.

“That is a huge jump in numbers from what we normally see in a day.”

Meade and BMH employee Terri Dolan, both noticed the increase in flu patients and approached the BMH Administration with the idea of opening a separate flu clinic for people coming to the hospital with possible H1N1 virus.

“We decided to segregate those who exhibit flu-like symptoms from the general population of emergency room patients,” Meade said, further explaining, “The decision was made because we didn’t want to see the E.R. patients get even more sick,” she said.

The new Flu Clinic facility consists of five patient exam rooms and, according to BMH staff, is a more efficient facility.

“The patients we have seen so far seem pleased with the new facility,” Dolan said, noting that the new location is helping to expedite the wait time of patients.

According to Meade, BMH and other healthcare facilities are trying their best to treat the symptoms of the flu.

Meade said the facility is testing patients for type A or type B influenza.

“If the test comes back positive for type A influenza, then most likely that person has the H1N1 virus,” Meade explained.

Meade says a prescription for TamiFlu can be effective if administered in the first 48 hours of contracting the virus.

Meade shared some advice from the CDC, which states, they should seek emergency medical care if they have difficulty breathing or chest pain, have purple or blue discoloration of lips, are vomiting and unable to keep liquids down, have signs of dehydration such as dizziness when standing, absence or urination, or in infants, a lack of tears when they cry. Also, they should seek emergency medical care if they have seizures or are less responsive than normal and become confused.

“In those cases, they should go to the E.R.,” Meade said.

A person is likely to have the flu if they exhibit symptoms of a fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, chills, fatigue, or diarrhea and vomiting, she said.

“If you have any of the symptoms, the best thing is to stay away from other people. Stay home if at all possible,” Meade said.