Trauma admissions on the rise
An increase in patients presenting at The Alfred’s Emergency and Trauma Centre as a result of road trauma has doctors urging motorists and pedestrians to stay safe this festive season.
The Alfred’s trauma services director, Professor Mark Fitzgerald, said it’s likely that within a fortnight cases will have surpassed the number of serious injuries the unit was treating before the pandemic hit in 2020.
“Everyone reduced their activity a lot in lockdown and now people are out and about and trying to get everything back in order, they have gone back to work where there is a lot more travelling and pedestrian traffic,” Professor Fitzgerald said.
“There’s a lot more road trauma coming in and we do have a lot of two-wheeler injuries whether they are motorcycles, motorised bicycles or electric scooters. That has increased serious injuries.
“A lot of people went and bought electric bikes and scooters, which were all OK when there was no traffic on the roads, but now they’re competing with a big increase in traffic and as a result it’s increasing the number of injured people, unfortunately,” Professor Fitzgerald said.
Professor Fitzgerald said it was understandable that after a long lockdown, people wanted to get back out on the road, but said simple acts of vigilance could prevent a lengthy hospital stay.
“The main message is to be careful and try to stay out of traffic,” Professor Fitzgerald said.
“We’re just asking people to be patient and respect that there’s more traffic on the road… if you hit something on one of these bikes or scooters, you’re going to hit it with a lot of force.”
