Is it worth a trip to the ED? Tips for parents when your kid’s feeling sick

Dr. Karen Gripp with Winnipeg's Children's Hospital Emergency Department said she's seen quite an uptick in younger patients recently, but not all have needed to be there.

Coughing, sneezing, stuffy noses and …struggling to breathe? Experts say when it comes to respiratory season, some symptoms are worth taking your kids to an emergency department (ED) for. Others, not so much.

Dr. Karen Gripp, medical director at Winnipeg’s Children’s Hospital Emergency Department, said she’s seen quite an uptick in little patients recently.

“In the emergency department specifically, we’re seeing numbers in the 170s,” she said. “Three weeks ago, I would have said 130s.” High volumes like this extend wait times, which Gripp said are about four to five hours long on average right now. But, if a child needed care right away, they would have priority.

These numbers are also akin to what was seen last year during what she called a “triple-demic,” when “COVID, the flu and RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) were kind of all hitting at the same time.”

“We have a lot of new children,” Gripp said, “so and they haven’t been exposed to the viruses. We also have new parents who really haven’t been through what, for many of us, is a typical winter season.”

She added there was hope this year would be slower, but since it isn’t, KidCare Manitoba sent handouts to parents with some information on when, and when not to, go to an ED to treat your child.

The fact sheet was also sent around last year to mitigate unnecessary traffic into EDs. It lists what symptoms are, and aren’t, emergencies when it comes to breathing, fevers and vomiting or diarrhea, and provides resources for parents who aren’t sure where to go.

The handout also includes some prevention tips like staying home, washing hands, covering coughs and sneezes, as well as wearing masks.