Injury by Ice - Southland Hospital ED Overwhelmed

Please attribute to Leanne Samuel, Acting Chief Operating Officer
Statement issued 2:15pm, Monday 9 July 2007

'Injury by Ice' - Southland Hospital's Emergency Department Overwhelmed

Southland Hospital in Invercargill declared a mass casualty status in response to the high number of ice-related injuries presenting at the hospital's Emergency Department today.

By 10.30am, the emergency department had over 60 ice-related accident patients in the department forcing the hospital to declare a mass casualty status to manage the situation.

Injuries included a variety of broken bones ranging from arms, legs, ribs, hips, ankles and fingers along with chest and other injuries, affecting a range of people of all ages, and ranging from minor to serious in their nature.   Some of the patients have been admitted for further treatment.

In response to the huge number of patients arriving at the hospital, a second 'alternative emergency department' was set up in the day surgery unit to manage the less serious triage 4 and 5 patients arriving for treatment.

While some accidents were related to motor vehicles, the majority of patients had simply been caught out falling over on the black ice and doing serious injury to themselves.

The hospital sent an urgent message to the public to stay at home and keep off the roads to avoid injury during the morning, echoing calls from the Police for drivers to keep off the roads.

Some elective surgery was also cancelled (affecting about 10 patients) to accommodate for urgent acute surgery.

Leanne Samuel said the hospital was fortunate most of their own staff had been able to get to work themselves and manage the patients, and acknowledged the willingness of staff across the hospital to pitch in to help the emergency department manage the volume of patients.

"We are grateful for the public's patience today, but with black ice again expected tomorrow, we are pleading for the public to stay at home and avoid injury by ice."

ENDS

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