Is your accident an emergency? Your answer is in this booklet
Flick through the pages of the Let's Talk Emergency Care booklet for valuable expert advice on rapid responses to a range of common health concerns, from burns and fevers to fractures and heart attacks.
People very often find it hard to respond effectively to accidents that occur in the home, at work or in everyday outdoor situations.
During the Irish Examiner and Cork University Hospital public health campaign, we have featured advice from experts across a range of common health concerns. In some cases, the best response is to go immediately to the nearest Emergency Department. In most cases, however, rushing to the ED should not be your first thought.
Click HERE to flick through the Let's Talk Emergency Care booklet
Each year, a growing number of people attend Cork University Hospital’s Emergency Department; close to 70,000 patients attended in 2020, of whom 70% were discharged home having completed their entire episode of care in the Emergency Department.
This flickable booklet, packed with advice and information provided by medical experts in Cork University Hospital was distributed with the Irish Examiner on Saturday, July 31. You can also view it here in digital format.
It is a valuable resource for anyone faced with a wide range of health concerns that frequently present at the doors of the Emergency Department at CUH, where the dedicated team across a range of disciplines are always ready and eager to help people.
However, the Emergency Department can sometimes be crowded with people who should really have gone elsewhere first, reducing queues in the ED, reducing their own stress and giving them faster access to the treatment they need.
"Could some of the patients that we see have avoided the queue and the long wait and been treated elsewhere?" asks Professor Conor Deasy, consultant in Emergency Medicine at CUH. "Undoubtedly yes, but that is easier to say after a thorough assessment by emergency doctors, nurses and therapists, blood tests, X-Rays and CT scans and so on.
"At various stages during the Pandemic, we asked patients to consider attending their GP, their Local Injury Units and Private Facilities; we do this only in extreme circumstances to create capacity in the Emergency Department to deliver emergency care; we are grateful to patients and their doctors who retain the Emergency Department for patients who need it in an emergency."
Another key aspect of the campaign has been to highlight CUH's plan to create a new dedicated Children's Emergency Department within the existing ED block. This will enhance the experience and reduce the stress of parents and children attending the Emergency Department at CUH.
The hospital is currently hosting a drive to raise funds for the development of this dedicated unit. See HERE for information on this fundraising campaign.
