MILWAUKEE (AP) — Emergency rooms at many Milwaukee area hospitals are being inundated with older patients who have severe flu-like symptoms.
Over the past 10 days, many of those emergency departments have been forced to divert incoming ambulances to other hospitals.
A Milwaukee Health Department official says five to eight of Milwaukee County's 11 hospitals have reported rolling diversions — temporary, periodic shutdowns of emergency departments except for life-threatening cases — because staff and beds are strained by an influx of patients hit hard with the flu.
The official tells the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (http://bit.ly/TLwax4 ) that other cities around Wisconsin have not reported hospitals being inundated with influenza cases.
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Information from: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, http://www.jsonline.com
