GPHC sees increase in trauma cases

Dec 30, 2009 News

– but not an unusual holiday feature says Dr Madan Rambaran

Of the 162 patients admitted to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) during the period December 24 through December 27 last, 71 were victims of assault and 36 sustained traumatic injuries as a result of motor vehicle accidents. Some of the traumatic injuries also included gunshot wounds.
However, Director of Medical and Professional Services, Dr Madan Rambaran, during an interview yesterday noted that such figures are not surprising especially during the Christmas season.
“During the holiday periods we tend to see a fair number of motor vehicle accidents, assaults, injuries and different types of traumas…probably more than the usual situation. So indeed there is no difference this season.”
According to Dr Rambaran, among the cases that were seen at the hospital over the four-day period a fraction was treated for minor injuries some of whom were discharged after treatment. And though efforts have been made to ensure that adequate staffers are on duty there is always the need for more, Dr Rambaran opined.
He related too that it has been theorised by some staffers that more patients also visit the hospital during the holiday season with regular problems such as diarrhoeal disease and chest pains, ailments they would normally endure at home.
It is believed, the Director said, that patients prefer to visit the hospital to seek medical attention rather than withstand the minor ailments they suffer.
“So we always would like more staff, but right across the hospital and in the context of the holiday season there is always this challenge but for the most part we have been well covered in the emergency room,” Dr Rambaran noted.
He disclosed that during the holidays too the number of doctors required to be on duty are based on the period of the day or night. During the day, he said that it is customary that at least five doctors are stationed even as he noted that the hospital has “a low threshold for bringing on the doctors who are in the services.”
For this reason he added that if there are any problems of a surgical nature the doctor who is on call in the surgical services will be called in to see such cases.
According to Dr Rambaran the hospital is definitely on a course to create a supportive environment, a venture that has been moving along in a desirable way. Hospital staffers the Director said are doing a reasonable job even in the face of challenges.
“I have emphasised on many occasions that this is not the most perfect emergency room, there are some weaknesses but we, I think, have been doing a reasonably good job in the context of the demands that are made, the resources that we have and how we match those two.
“I think the outcome is pretty good and we are satisfied with the work the staffers have been doing,” Dr Rambaran asserted.
However he noted, “I am sure there will be examples of persons who would have said they have been waiting there for a long time and they were not seen in a timely manner as they would demand…But we have always emphasised that the emergency room is not a place that is based on first come first serve basis but rather the seriousness of an individual’s ailment.”
And there has definitely been an improvement in the hospital’s triage system, according to Dr Navindranauth Rambaran. He is the Head of the hospital’s Accident and Emergency Unit. He just completed a recent triage-training programme, which was attended by some staffers of the hospital “the system, however functioning as it was before, is even better now.
“We have a strict system where patients are put in order of how serious their illnesses are and there is ongoing capacity building in this respect,” he assured.
Triage is the sole process by which a health professional is able to categorise the urgency of a patient’s medical needs in order to direct them to the proper medical care. With the intention of improving the Triage system in the Accident and Emergency Unit (A&E) of the GPHC, the Triage Training Course was recently undertaken for medical professionals.
As a result, at the GPHC, persons are afforded at least two bouts of triage if they are forced to wait for medical attention.
Dr Navindranauth Rambaran disclosed that the ongoing development is being done through measures that have been put in place by the hospital in collaboration with other partners who are rendering their support towards ensuring that an improved general A&E service is available.

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GPHC sees increase in trauma cases

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