The Mater hospital's minor injuries clinic has been inundated with ice-related injuries, writes EITHNE DONNELLANHealth Correspondent
WHEN MARIE Matthews fell yesterday and her wrist ballooned she didn’t have far to reach for ice.
“It came in handy for something,” she laughed, revealing that she had used a block of ice on the ground close to where she came a cropper – as she delivered meals on wheels in the Cabra area of Dublin – to ease the swelling on her arm before she sought medical attention.
She was just one of the people at the Mater hospital’s minor injuries clinic in the Smithfield area of Dublin yesterday being treated for falls on compacted snow and ice.
Marie, from Blanchardstown, had thought she was well prepared. She even wore her snow boots before embarking on her good deed for the day. She normally works indoors at the Christ the King centre in Cabra preparing food for elderly people who attend the facility daily as well as meals for older people in their homes.
However, given the icy conditions, fewer regulars have been able to attend the centre and extra volunteers were sought to deliver more meals to older people in their own homes. Marie volunteered and the rest is history. “It was just that I was giving a help out today and lo and behold, I slipped twice on the ice. The first time wasn’t too bad, the second time was when the injury occurred,” she said.
“The footpaths are very, very bad up around the Cabra area and there really isn’t enough gritting . . . I deal with the old folks and it’s very very bad out there for them, it really and truly is. If I’m finding it difficult out there, the elderly must be really terrified.
“There’s just no grip on it whatsoever and they’re actually the proper snow boots I have on,” she continued.
Kevin O’Meara from Kinsealy in north Dublin was also at the clinic for treatment of a wrist injury after he fell on an icy pavement while trying to hail a taxi at Ormond Quay in the city centre in the early hours of Sunday morning. “I turned around quickly and next thing, I was sprawled on the ground. I have no bruises anywhere else so my hand probably took the full force of the fall,” he said.
“It’s absolutely lethal out there. It’s because it’s half thawed and half frozen. Anywhere that the snow and ice hasn’t been scraped away is just glassy”.
His advice to others until the artic conditions subside? “Don’t go out unless you have to. Definitely don’t go out drinking”.
Dr Tómas Breslin, a consultant in emergency medicine at the minor injury clinic, has seen numerous people presenting after falling on ice over the past week. Some 13 patients who attended the clinic one day last week had sustained fractures while at the weekend – when the minor injury clinic was closed – the emergency department at the Mater hospital saw 34 people for treatment of fractures and limb injuries, which was almost twice the numbers seen on the same day last year. He said many of those who broke wrists and hips required surgery and his orthopaedic colleagues at the Mater now had a big backlog of work as a result.
Dr Breslin stressed those who attend the hospital’s minor injuries unit can be assessed, have X-rays and a plaster cast applied within a short time, rather than enduring a long wait in an emergency department. The same rules apply at the clinic as at hospital emergency departments. Those with GP referral letters do not have to pay the €100 charge. Neither do medical card patients.