For many, Memorial Day weekend is a time of honor and mourning for those who died while serving in the United States military, or a time for parades and picnics. But for doctors and nurses working in emergency departments and critical care units, it’s also the start of “trauma season.”
sink. Boating accidents that are often caused by alcohol. As more people hit the roads, the motorcycle crashes. falls into the pits of fire. Propane injuries from grilling. Fireworks injuries.
Doctors at Backus Hospital in Norwich and Lawrence + Memorial Hospital in New London share these examples of more traumatic injuries over the summer. Talking about the last week, it has been making headlines since the holiday weekend.
Four people were killed in a wrong-way accident on Interstate 95 in Guilford early Sunday. A Westley man accused of driving under the influence of drugs Sunday afternoon in Massachusetts, crashed into five motorcycles from the Connecticut Motorcycle Club, seriously injuring eight people. A motorcyclist was killed in Norwich early Sunday.
A man drowned in a pond in Lisbon on Sunday afternoon. Officers are searching for a missing sailor at Candlewood Lake in Brookfield after police received a report on Sunday night that a sailor jumped into the water and did not return. Weathersfield Police is investigating a body found in the Connecticut River on Monday morning.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, unintentional injury was the leading cause of death for people aged 1 to 44 in 2020. More children aged 1 to 4 years died from drowning due to some other reason.
Medical Director Dr. Gary Kamal said, “A lot of this is preventable, and a lot of it is very sad, because who are we losing? We are losing young people, and those are the deaths that are the worst.” hurts.” Trauma and Surgical Critical Care in Backus.
Kamal also said that more than half of boat deaths in Connecticut are alcohol-related.
“I think it boils down to poor judgment where, like on roadways, there can be an overdose of speed, a lack of awareness of other sailors, and by extension, if you get drunk and end up in the water. If you go, there may be a loss in swimming ability,” Kamal said.
Chief of Emergency Services Dr. Kyle McClain said that people should never swim alone or under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and it is important for parents to have someone who can watch children swimming. be nominated.
“Parents have to keep their focus even when socializing with other parents,” he said. Jennifer Monahan, an emergency and critical care nurse, said people assume drowning will cause loud splashes but drowning is “usually very calm”.
Trauma program manager Renee Malaro said Backus has seen “some really horrific accidents” over the years from all-terrain vehicles and utility work vehicles.
McClain said people don’t see things like four-wheeled vehicles, golf carts and Gator utility vehicles as dangerous as cars, but there is a risk when it is dark and alcohol is involved.
He said that whether talking about a boat, jet-ski or kayak, “a pattern that brings people to the hospital for evaluation is accidents because there is a combination of low light, substance, intoxication, distraction.”
Another blindness-related injury McClain has seen is people falling and falling into fire pits, which can have uneven legs around them. He said Backus had seen “severely burned children who fell into fire pits.”
Kamal said falls also happen from “hold-my-beer type injuries,” where people are “jumping off roofs and things like that.”
At Lawrence + Memorial Hospital, Dr. Stephanie Joyce Osten, trauma director, said she sees an increase in motor vehicle collisions “as the sheer number of people, especially in this area, increases.”
In a newly released report, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that 42,915 people were killed in motor vehicle crashes last year, a 10.5% increase in 2020 and the highest since 2005.
Osten’s first piece of advice is for people to wear their seatbelts, don’t text and drive, and don’t drive while intoxicated. She encourages people to wear helmets on bicycles, motorcycles and even skateboards.
“Wearing a helmet doesn’t cause significant injury to people’s brain, and in fact the most difficult thing to treat as a surgeon is a brain injury,” Osten said. “It can be devastating because it’s a simple, easy way to prevent catastrophic injury.”
She sees a lot of children and even pets drowning when the pool is not closed properly or there is no supervision.
Osten expects to see a lot more traumatic injuries this summer as he expects people to travel more, as travel restrictions and mask mandates are lifted. She said hospitals are already under stress, especially as some patients have not seen a doctor during the pandemic and are therefore sick.
