With school holidays officially kicking off across Queensland this weekend, Sunshine Coast Health emergency department staff are reminding residents to stay safe these holidays as they prepare for the busy season.
Sunshine Coast Health EDs see around 270-280 patients per day on average throughout the year, but that number is expected to significantly increase over the holidays with the influx of visitors to the region.
Especially over Christmas week, it’s expected we may see more than 350 patients a day.
ED Consultant Dr Sarah Carter said common presentations at this time of year are beach related.
“Often more likely to be people who are visiting or new to Australia, but we tend to see more injuries in the surf so people being dumped in the waves or caught in rips and near drownings,” Dr Carter said.
“It’s obviously a bit higher risk for kids so we really recommend that people keep a close eye on their kids when they’re out at the beach and do a bit of rip safety, learning about rips and how to manage them to reduce your risk of getting injuries over the summer.”
With snakes around, our EDs also notice an increase in bite presentations.
“If you do end up being bitten by a snake always assume that it’s going to be a venomous snake, stay calm, stay nice and still, apply a pressure immobilisation bandage from the end of your limb so your toes or your fingers all the way up the torso so to the groin or the shoulder and call an ambulance as soon as you can ,” Dr Carter said.
Clinical Nurse Consultant Ashleigh Grinsell said the EDs are ready and prepared for the increase in patients, but reminded people to only attend when it is an emergency.
“The ED is open 24/7, we also have alternatives as well, General Practitioners are open over the holiday period, we also have the Minor Injury and Illness Clinic at Caloundra that’s open from 8am to 10pm, we also have our virtual ED and that is open from 8am to 10pm as well,” she said.
“Generally, we would advise to go the MIIC if you have a minor injury such as a broken arm or a minor illness such as a flu or a cold, if you have anything like chest pain or a serious head injury, we would advise you to come to an emergency department.”
Our hospitals are open and ready for the Christmas period, on our busiest days there may be long waits in EDs for those with less urgent conditions.
“When every patient comes into our ED we do welcome them, they go a triage nurse at the front desk, they tell their story then they are given a category from 1 to 5,” Ashleigh said.
“1 is our most serious being life threatening so they go straight to a resuscitation room and 5 is the least threatening and they often end up waiting for a little while, but they will be seen.”
If people are unsure whether to go to an emergency department, they can call 13 HEALTH (13 43 25 84) and speak to a registered nurse 24 hours a day.
If they need immediate medical care, call Triple Zero (000) and ask for an ambulance.