Medical care offered in Rancho Bernardo

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Rancho Bernardo:

At the request of San Diego Fire-Rescue, Scripps Health today set up a mobile trailer and two tents as a medical response unit at the Rancho Bernardo service center.

“We’re ready to provide care for both firefighters, if they need it, and citizens coming to the recreation center,” said Dr. A. Brent Eastman, chief medical officer for Scripps Health. “Many have illnesses that are neglected or mental health issues when they come back and see their homes destroyed.”

They were asked to help to alleviate the strain on San Diego’s hospital emergency rooms, Eastman said.

He said the unit, which opened up for its first full day today, has already dealt with about a dozen patients, but he said the lines were expected to increase as people began to be allowed back to their homes.

So far, he said, they have dealt primarily with three kinds of patients: those suffering from chronic illnesses who have missed doctor’s appointments or do not have the supplies they need because of the fires; people suffering from respiratory problems due to the air quality; and those who need mental health counseling to deal with the emotional trauma of their losses.

The unit was utilized in Houston to aid Katrina victims, many of whom had lost their healthcare supplies, he said, adding that one example might be asthmatics without nebulizers.

“When I’ve walked through the recovery center and see all these people, it’s exactly what we encountered in Houston,” Eastman said.

One man seen by Scripps Health last night had been in an evacuation center since Sunday without either insulin or his glucometer to measure his insulin level. Eastman said the man had been very distressed but had received care. Today, as President Bush arrived at the center, a woman who had just learned her house had burned to the ground approached the tents for mental health counseling.

Eastman said doctors at the unit can treat people and write prescriptions right away, but follow-up appointments also are discussed.

“We know from the Cedar fires we provided a lot of mental health in 2003 early on ... but we’re still seeing those patients now,” Eastman said. “We’re looking at it as a first encounter of what may be a long relationship” with Scripps or people’s regular doctors.

The unit has a volunteer staff of about four doctors and six nurses, Eastman said. He said Rancho Bernardo has a sizable population of elderly and retired people.

--Tami Abdollah