Summer risks prove costly

It wouldn’t be the silly season without sun, beach trips, and mozzie bites.

But that summer mishap doesn’t come without a cost and holiday injuries are costing the country millions of dollars a year in ACC payouts.

There were more than 16,000 claims for summer-related injuries between December 2017 and February 2018, at a cost of nearly $3.5 million.

Firing up the barbecue still contains some risk but it turns out you’re more likely to be injured by an insect or a simple day at the beach.

Insect bites topped all other claims last summer, with 11,745 claims, at a cost of nearly $1m.

And while ACC might well be preparing for another influx of holiday injury claims this summer, hospital staff are also gearing up.

Thames Hospital goes ‘‘gangbusters’’ because of all the beachgoers in places like the Coromandel, emergency physician Dr John Bonning said.

But it doesn’t mean Waikato Hospital gets any less busy.

‘‘The vast majority of stuff we see are people with chronic illness and injuries,’’ Bonning said.

‘‘So things like alcohol-fuelled injuries tend to increase at this time of the year.

‘‘Fractured wrists, dislocated shoulders, broken ribs, lots of cuts and occasionally, an injury sustained in fights.’’

Bonning said Waikato is the ‘‘trauma capital of New Zealand’’ and motor vehicle crashes were likely to keep hospital staff on their toes.

‘‘I would hazard a guess that we get more trauma than any other hospital in the country because of the fact that we’re an arterial route through from Auckland out to the rest of the country.

‘‘We get a huge amount of road trauma and I think people need to be so careful on the roads.

‘‘We do not by any set of imagination have a quiet period. We have a really busy period, which is sometime around the new year, but we don’t have a quiet period.’’

Barbecue-related injuries over the three-month period cost the country nearly half-a-million dollars, while beach-related injuries cost almost double that, at

$863,000.

ACC received 25 claims for sunburn, at a cost of close to

$7000.

‘‘We get people with sunburn a fair bit, with extreme sunburn, absolutely fried,’’ Bonning said.

Bonning said while most injuries they see over the summer period are genuine, he wanted to remind people that emergency departments are not there for convenience.

About 10 per cent of presentations at the ED are injuries that people could see their GP for.

‘‘If you come in here with a minor condition you will wait – and you will wait a long, long time while we’re dealing with very sick and injured people.

‘‘Those that are intoxicated, those that are getting into fights, those that are drink driving and just being careless – that’s kind of frustrating.

‘‘We’re not here for your convenience. It’s a bit frustrating for us as well. Think ahead and plan better.’’

‘‘I would hazard a guess that we get more trauma than any other hospital.’’

Dr John Bonning