PORT CHARLOTTE - Bill Gregory was just trying to remove an oak tree that had fallen into the canal behind his home.
Then the 82-year-old retiree lost his balance and fell, gashing his left foot on an oyster shell.
"Everybody's got too much going," said Gregory, who got a friend to give him a ride to Fawcett Memorial Hospital. "And I like to do things myself."
Federal and local hospital officials say they are seeing a surge in injuries and illnesses related to Hurricane Charley. They include injuries suffered during the clean-up of debris, cardiac problems, heat exhaustion and food-related illnesses.
A total of 166 people sought treatment Friday at Charlotte Regional Medical Center and FEMA's emergency tent opposite the hospital. Typically, the hospital's emergency room sees 75 to 90 patients a day.
Bon Secours-St. Joseph Hospital in Port Charlotte has been seeing about 150 patients a day, including a man struck by lightning while repairing his roof. Usually, it's about 70 to 100 people. Fawcett Memorial and its FEMA medical tent saw 120 people Friday, about twice the usual number.
Those numbers are expected to rise this weekend before tapering off next week, said FEMA representative Gary Kruschke. The number of people with storm-related medical problems typically increases between six and eight days after a hurricane before dropping off, he said.
One reason for the injuries is that people are coming to the stricken area to help their relatives, Kruschke said. People are getting out, moving around.
"I've watched the elderly climb on roofs, pick up steel, clear trees," said Agnes Smith, Charlotte Regional assistant chief nursing officer.
Authorities also are beginning to see instances of people needing treatment for carbon monoxide poisoning after running generators inside their homes at night to prevent theft, Charlotte County Fire Chief Dennis Didio said. Friday night, a family of five was treated for carbon monoxide poisoning, he said.
And there are cases of food poisoning, said Jeannine Mallory, spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Health. Despite orders to boil their water, residents are using tap water to wash fruits and vegetables or eating food out of cans contaminated by flood water.
Some elderly residents were eating spoiled food from their refrigerators, said Katrina Klaproth, spokeswoman for Bon Secours-St. Joseph Hospital.
At the FEMA tent opposite Charlotte Regional on Saturday, people complained of various problems.
Pedro Concepcion, 43, started feeling dizzy and nauseated after manning the barbecue grill for hours during a benefit for hurricane victims. Mike Erisman, 46, a contractor for Florida Power & Light, broke a bone in his right foot after equipment fell from his truck. Eugene Webb, 52, of Georgia, was helping an elderly woman remove a tree from her roof when he slipped and fell, fracturing his left leg.
All three hospitals in Charlotte County said it doesn't matter whether patients have health insurance.
"That's the last thing we're worried about right now," said Tom Rice, chief executive officer of Fawcett Memorial.
Rice said the hospital could use more employees to help handle its caseload, but some of them were tied up fixing their homes. Generally, however, hospital administrators said they weren't being overwhelmed by the influx. At Charlotte Regional, the emergency room is the only unit open and is using nurses from other departments to help handle the additional patients.
