UPMC Children's Hospital opens treatment tent in response to RSV cases
RSV and other respiratory illnesses have surged among children this season.
RSV and other respiratory illnesses have surged among children this season.
RSV and other respiratory illnesses have surged among children this season.
A rise in respiratory cases among children has led UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh to re-launch its treatment tent to see additional patients.
The hospital announced the decision in a Facebook post Monday.
Raymond Pitetti, director of the Emergency Department at UPMC Children’s, said "the vast majority" of child patients coming in had respiratory issues, and "many of them" had RSV as the triggering virus.
In the video posted on Facebook, Pitetti says that the tent's ten additional beds give the hospital "the ability to see more kids in a timely manner."
Pitetti had previously told Pittsburgh's Action News 4 that the Children's emergency department was "literally daily having meetings" about whether it needed to open the tent.
In the video posted on Facebook, Pitetti said the hospital was trying to be "proactive" during this surge, and he emphasized that "We will see every single child that comes into this emergency department."
As of Monday night, the wait time for UPMC Children's ER room was over four and a half hours, as posted on its website.
UPMC Children's has previously brought out the tent when it needed beds for an influx of patients.