The territory is grappling with a wave of respiratory illnesses and a family doctor shortage that have both pushed more Yukoners to use emergency departments for medical needs, regardless of their urgency.

The Yukon Hospital Corp. (YHC), meanwhile, is advising parents when a trip to the emergency room is necessary for their children.

“When it is not an emergency, it is best to treat your child’s illness at a doctor’s office, and with the advice from a health provider, some symptoms can be managed at home,” reads a document the YHC released last week.

It outlines for parents what constitutes a medical emergency for children.

The guide urges parents who aren’t sure whether their child should go to the emergency department to call 811. A registered nurse is available at all hours at that number to provide health advice.

The guide outlines a number of different symptoms – breathing problems, fever, vomiting, diarrhea, rashes and injuries – and the severity that might require a trip to the hospital for urgent care.

Fevers, for instance, don’t require emergency treatment in a baby if they’re vaccinated and generally healthy, but if they’re fewer than three months old, it’s a different story.

Nasal congestion and coughs can be dealt with outside the emergency room, even if they interrupt sleep, but strained, rapid breathing, pale or blue lips, or poor response to asthma medication should be treated immediately.

YHC spokesperson Isaac MacDonald told the Star in an email today that the guide was created “in anticipation of an above-average flu/respiratory illness season, a trend that is playing out all across Canada. 

“(YHC) emergency departments are seeing an increasing number of patients coming through with flu-like symptoms, which is in part why this guide was published,” he wrote.

Respiratory illnesses have been on the rise across the country this fall, and the Yukon’s chief medical officer of health has been telling Yukoners to prepare for a long flu season.

Dr. Sunit Ranade said last week that easing public health restrictions like mask mandates has only meant people are getting sick with flus and other viruses at about the same rate as they were before the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, hospitals across Canada have been seeing an influx of people with influenza, respiratory syncytial virus and COVID-19, creating capacity problems. 

Ranade told the Star last week that the number of these illnesses is consistent with pre-pandemic levels, when masking and other health restrictions weren’t common.

But school absences have been prevalent. The Department of Health and Social Services said over one-fifth of grade-school students had been out sick from school in the first two weeks of November.

As well, the president of the Yukon Association of Education Professionals told the Star last week that some rural classrooms had seen close to 80 per cent of kids out this fall.

The YHC guide notes that fever is a common symptom of these types of viruses.

The Yukon, along with the rest of Canada, is dealing with a shortage of children’s acetaminophen, which helps reduce fever,

Consequently, the guide instructs parents how to treat fevers without medicine instead of seeking help from emergency departments when supplies are low.

To deal with fevers without medicine, the guide instructs, parents should give their child plenty of fluids, dress them in light clothing and sponge them with cool or lukewarm water.

But more respiratory illnesses aren’t the sole stressor for emergency departments.

Although YHC’s guide says parents should take children to a doctor’s office for non-emergencies, some Yukoners need the emergency room for all medical problems, regardless of severity.

That’s because not everyone in the Yukon has a family doctor; more than 3,000 people are on a waitlist for one.

A new clinic opened last month in Whitehorse, but it’s still looking to contract two physicians, and offers no walk-in services. In fact, no clinic offers walk-in services in the territory.

As such, emergency rooms have been used more and more to treat non-urgent issues for Yukoners without a doctor. 

This has added to emergency room wait times. But MacDonald told the Star that emergency rooms are a “viable alternative” for parents without a family doctor, even if their children require non-urgent care.