I was in an ER Wednesday, one incoming lady with flu symptoms passed out at the door was helped inside and was sat in the same small room as the rest of us...and close to me. An elderly man was wheeled in, profusely sweating, shivering, wrapped in a blanket, battling nausea and begging, “Help me, God help me! Someone, please help me!”
And he was also placed in the small area waiting area with the rest of us - for about an hour before I was removed to another room. He was wheeled to another room about 1.5 hrs later.
So, isolation in the ER is not guaranteed.
