‘We were rushed into trauma’: A look inside Canada’s RSV and flu crisis

Toddler Avery Harper is battling both RSV and the flu. The viral illnesses have hit young patients so hard that children's hospitals across the country have been overwhelmed. 

Amanda Weger is still a bit stunned that what began with a mild fever and a cough for her 23-month-old daughter has now become a two-week-long stay at the Alberta Children’s hospital, including a week in intensive care.

“A trauma team rushed in, they were hooking her up to all the monitors and I was just standing there shell-shocked. I didn’t realize she was as sick as she was,” said Weger.

Avery Harper is one of the many children battling RSV and the flu in Canada right now. The viral illnesses are hitting young patients so hard that children’s hospitals across the country have been overwhelmed.

“In general, we’re seeing more children requiring oxygen and other supportive therapies at this time than we did with the COVID surge in the spring. But even then, our emergency department volumes were nowhere near where they are now,” said Dr. Stephen Freedman, an emergency department physician at the Alberta Children’s Hospital. “That’s because of the timing of these viruses, it’s all happening at the same time.”

At the time Avery was admitted to ICU, her mother says there were 15 other patients in the unit, all with RSV, the flu or both viruses at the same time.

“It was scary; there were paramedics dropping kids off, literally as one stretcher was taken away, another replaced its spot within minutes,” said Weger.

During Avery’s time in intensive care and with permission from her family, the little girl was photographed by Dr. Heather Patterson.

The emergency physician and photographer has been documenting staff and patient experiences in hospitals since the beginning of the COVID pandemic for a project meant to help inspire front-line workers to carry on through challenging times.