As the population swells with visitors in the twin towns and along the Murray River, the number of staff working in the emergency department will be bolstered.
But they are also dealing with many other services being closed, such as outpatient or GP clinics, making it the one-stop shop for everybody.
During summer emergency department director Dr Simon Judkins said they generally saw more trauma related to water sports on the river, combined with people overindulging in alcohol and other recreational substances.
“We do see a lot of preventable disease, preventable accidents and that’s the thing that worries us most,” Dr Judkins said.
“It’s not uncommon to see people with significant fractures, spinal injuries, head injuries; some of those things that can change your life forever based on a split moment bad decision.”
He urged people to not only think about themselves, but to watch out for their mates and family, particularly where children, alcohol and the river were involved.
“The last place you want to be in summer is meeting us in the emergency department — that by definition means you’re not having a good summer,” he said.
Dr Judkins said courtesy, respect and understanding of the system pressures would be appreciated for those who found themselves requiring medical help.
“Our staff do an incredible job and the fact they’re working 24/7 while everybody else is having a break — they’re making a big commitment to the community,” he said.
“We’re cognisant of the fact it can be busy and people can have to wait sometimes.
“This is the busiest time for our staff and we’ve got the least resources available, so there is quite a bit of pressure on them to deal with the increased load.”
Leading into Christmas and the summer holidays, COVID-19 cases have been on the rise nationwide and Dr Judkins said continued COVID-safe practices were important, such as mask-wearing and social distancing.
“Make sure you’ve got your COVID vaccinations and boosters; one of the things we would be concerned about is seeing a spread of COVID in the community over this time when we have limited resources,” he said.
And for those visiting the region, Dr Judkins said ensuring all medications and relevant medical history were on the packing list could help ease the pressure on staff.
“If there are people you think need to come in for assessments and they might be impacted by alcohol, or they need that support person, certainly let us know,” he said.
Echuca Regional Health’s emergency department is at 226 Service St, Echuca, and is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
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