A mobile medical unit designed to help survivors of the fire in Rancho Bernardo was set to close earlier this week. But high demand has prompted the San Diego Fire Department to ask Scripps Health to keep the clinic open a few more days. KPBS Reporter Kenny Goldberg has the story.
Scripps set up the mobile unit in a large tent at Rancho Bernardo Community Park last Thursday. It's staffed with doctors and nurses who volunteer their time. They provide free medical treatments, and write prescriptions for people who need an emergency supply of drugs. E-R doctor Valerie Norton says as the week wears on, more and more people are coming in who have trouble breathing.
Norton: We're just still seeing a lot of people who are having especially respiratory problems, from all the ash and soot in the air. There's a lot of particulate matter in the air. Even though it's starting to smell better and look clearer, there's still a lot of stuff that you can't see.
The mobile clinic has treated more than 300 people from the Rancho Bernardo area. Scripps plans to keep the unit open through Sunday.
Kenny Goldberg, KPBS News.
