Emergency rooms are very busy on New Year's Eve. Employees there often have to deal with severed fingers, burns, fractures or soft tissue injuries. The accident clinic sees itself well prepared - and has a few tips.
Frankfurt / Main (dpa / lhe) - As a precaution, the accident clinic in Frankfurt asks for your understanding for any longer waiting times at the turn of the year. From the late evening hours on New Year's Eve and especially after midnight, the professional association accident clinic (BGU) expects an increased number of emergencies due to too much alcohol consumption and hand and explosion injuries from fireworks, as the medical director of the clinic, Prof. Reinhard Hoffmann, told the dpa .
The special clinic does not take any special precautions - like every year, you prepare yourself very relaxed for New Year's Eve. As always, the emergency service groups are well staffed, so an additional, precautionary increase is not necessary. In the event of an exceptionally large number of injuries, an increase is possible at any time.
There will also be normal staffing around New Year's Eve in the Frankfurt University Hospital and in the Citizens' Hospital, as reported by spokesmen for the respective clinics. The emergency rooms are prepared for all emergencies.
"Longer waiting times are to be expected in any case," said Prof. Hoffmann from the BGU. "Highly specialized surgical teams are then available for surgical care. However, the care of these patients usually lasts non-stop until well into New Year's Day and beyond.
Although patients with Covid-19 or other infections are still present in the BGU, they also led to individual capacity bottlenecks in the inpatient area. "But they don't prevent us in our willingness to perform and our ability to provide emergency care for the population," said Hoffmann.
On New Year's Eve, patients come with severed fingers, burns, fractures and soft tissue injuries, reported Prof. Christoph Hirche, chief physician for plastic, hand and reconstructive microsurgery at the BGU. "Often the injuries are so severe that those affected suffer irreversible damage or recovery is no longer possible, despite rapid medical attention and successful reconstructive procedures." Young men are particularly affected.
The BGU has the following tips just in case: Minor burns can be cooled with tap water for a short time. Larger burns should not be cooled, as there is a risk of cooling down. All burns must always be sterilely draped immediately.
If you lose a lot of blood, you need an ambulance. Burns should always be treated by specialists. "If fingers or parts of fingers were torn off, try to salvage them and take them to the clinic. The torn off finger should be kept as germ-free as possible. Then there is a chance of saving the finger," says Prof. Hirche.
