After a dramatic increase in emergency room visits this week, Rutland Regional Medical Center implemented an "Emergency Surge Plan" to address an uptick in respiratory illnesses.

RSV, a respiratory illness common among infants and toddlers, is what they and many other emergency departments across the state are seeing. They're also concerned heading into the winter months about more COVID-19 and flu cases.

"It's not an uncommon scenario, to be honest," said Dr. Rick Hildebrant, the medical director of hospital medicine at Rutland Regional. "We had a very, very high number of patients that really stressed the ability for us to continue to see patients in our emergency department."

A spike in respiratory illnesses is causing trouble at the hospital in Rutland.

All the beds at the Rutland Regional Medical Center are full which prompts emergency planning.

The big uptick is driven by the seasonal flu, RSV, coronavirus, mental health, people seeking deferred care and staffing challenges.

Hospital leaders say jammed-up emergency rooms have a ripple effect on other areas of the health care system.

“It’s a team effort, so be careful out there, work with your primary care doctor to decide where the most appropriate place to get care is. If there is a way to get testing elsewhere, please take that opportunity,” said Dr. Alison Davis of RRMC.

Rebecca Bell, a critical care pediatrician at the University of Vermont Children’s Hospital, has a message for people visiting infants this Thanksgiving that is going to be difficult to hear: “Admire the baby from afar.”

By all indications, Covid-19 is on the decline for now in Vermont. But cases of respiratory syncytial virus, known as RSV, and rhinovirus among children are surging in doctors’ offices and emergency rooms across the state, earlier and at higher rates than in recent memory.

In both general pediatrics and the pediatric intensive care unit at UVM, staff members have had to search for additional space to handle the number of cases coming in.