Play it Safe
School will soon be out for the summer. Days are longer. Temperatures are warmer. It’s the time of year when everyone loves to be outside—picnicking, swimming, exercising and gardening. But while you’re playing and having fun, remember to use some caution and common sense to avoid a trip to the emergency room.
Don Berkow, M.D., of Lancaster Emergency Associates, is the Medical Director of the Lancaster General Hospital Emergency Department. He has seen a wide variety of situations during his time working in emergency medicine and encourages people to know their limits when engaging in outdoor activities.
“The biggest contributing factor to summer emergency room visits is exposure,” Dr. Berkow explains. “Exposure can involve exposure to high temperatures or exposure to asphalt and concrete. When it gets warmer, people with heart conditions, individuals on medications and those who exercise extensively all run the risk of not being able to cool down their bodies properly. As a result, they may develop heat-related illnesses ranging from dehydration to heat stroke. When it’s colder it’s easier to regulate temperature by adding more clothing. When it’s hot there’s a limit to what you can do to cool off.”
Dr. Berkow mentions that heat-related injuries are not the only summertime concern. “We also get the overexposed people on their motorized vehicles who run the chance of taking a spill and ripping off half their skin,” Dr. Berkow says. “In the summer we see more lacerations and small bone injuries because of the increased outdoor sports activities.”
Last year, nearly 21,000 people came to the Emergency Department from June-September. Some of the most common summer-related visits came from:
- Minor injuries, falls, lacerations: 4,372
- Asthma, shortness of breath: 883
- Insect bites, allergic reactions: 262
- Rash, sunburn: 241
- Animal bites, rabies: 168
- Dehydration: 23
Carla Leed, Director of the Lancaster General Hospital Emergency Department and Trauma Center, encourages people to be aware of the risks and to take the proper precautions. “Just using some good common sense can often save you a trip to the emergency room,” she says. “Simple precautions include wearing sunscreen and insect repellant as well as staying properly hydrated. When enjoying recreational equipment such as trampolines and bicycles, make sure to use the proper safety protection.”
But when you do need emergency care, Lancaster General Hospital’s Emergency Department and Trauma Center teams are by your side, ready to help in the case of a medical emergency. In a few months, the Emergency Department and Trauma Center will be better able to handle the increasing numbers of patients who walk through its doors. The expansion project is expected to be finished mid-summer 2003.
“We appreciate people’s patience over the last year as we’ve gone through some growing pains during the construction and renovation project,” Carla says. “We know it’s been a struggle for our patients and their families that had to wait. We’ve tried to be sensitive to those concerns, which is a big reason why we have prioritized this expansion project. We’re excited about the future, which will enable us to help people more quickly and offer them more comfortable and private waiting areas.”
The new Emergency Department will feature a special pediatric waiting area and treatment area that are being funded by The United Auxiliaries to the Lancaster General Hospital. Other improvements include larger waiting areas with more conveniences such as computers with Internet access and informational kiosks. The entire Emergency Department and Trauma Center will be enlarged, enabling the staff to keep pace with the 55,000-plus patients who come through their doors each year. The new facility will have the capacity to accommodate more than 90,000 patients annually. In addition to providing state-of-the-art emergency care, Lancaster General Hospital will be coordinating the efforts of the Lancaster County SafeKids Coalition starting this summer. SafeKids is a volunteer organization. The focus for the coming years will be promoting farm safety, bicycle safety and proper child car seat usage.
For more information about Lancaster General Hospital Emergency Department and Trauma Center,
click here.