‘Silly season’ warning as hospitals brace for spike in preventable trauma injuries

Victorian hospitals are in the grip of a serious injury spike, with a series of “silly” mishaps being blamed for the flood of patients.

Guido Pozzebon fell off the roof while he was putting up Christmas lights and ended up in the Royal Melbourne Hospital with six fractured ribs. Picture: Tim Carrafa

Doctors facing a surge in serious trauma injuries this holiday season have begged Victorians to stay safe if they want to make it home in time for Christmas.

With emergency departments already under pressure, one of Melbourne’s top trauma hospitals has warned that preventable injuries spike in December, as drinking, warm weather and social gatherings increase.

The Alfred’s senior doctors said they see a range of accidents, from falls while stringing up Christmas lights and spinal injuries from diving into a sandbar, to burns after playing with fire and severe dehydration at raves.

Car crashes see a significant spike, with more than 111 people – including 13 pedestrians – admitted to Alfred Hospital in December last year.

The leading cause of admission that month was falls (149 people), but some less common scenarios also make an appearance during the ‘silly season’.

Falls were the leading cause of admission. Picture: Tim Carrafa

These included 12 people injured by fire or smoke, 10 horse-related accidents and 16 people injured by an object.

The Alfred acting director of emergency Dr Carl Luckhoff said this year, people were taking up activities they haven’t done for a while, “especially after Covid lockdowns”.

“Every year we see people make silly decisions and unfortunately end up in hospital,” he said.

He said accidents were a tragedy regardless of the time of the year, but the holiday season families often struggled even more during the holiday season.

Dr Carl Luckhoff says ‘every year we see people make silly decisions and unfortunately end up in hospital’. Picture: iStock

“You have a plan of what you think your summer is going to be like, and it turns out very differently,” he said.

“Sometimes the most unexpected things happen, and people might be fishing on a ledge on a rock, or they may simply be driving from point A to point B.”

The Alfred trauma service deputy director Dr Simon Hendel said preventable injuries often involved alcohol, drugs or a poor risk assessment.

“Pouring petrol on a fire to try and get it to light a bit more is a really bad idea, and very rarely ends well,” he said.

“People are having barbecues, maybe sparking up a barbecue with a gas cylinder that hadn’t been used and tested for a while.”

Alcohol is often linked to preventable injuries, The Alfred trauma service deputy director Dr Simon Hendel says. Picture: iStock

He urged people to think before they act and said while staff would never judge patients for their misadventures, they would prefer people to have a safe summer.

“There’s almost nothing more distressing for family, and for hospital staff, who have to break often tragic news to family members on Christmas morning,” he said.

“It’s no great secret that the health system is under strain.

“If we can reduce the amount of preventable injuries that we have … then that reduces the strain.”

The Alfred trauma director Professor Mark Fitzgerald said 41 patients admitted last December had blood alcohol levels about .05.

“These are injuries that include severe damage to internal organs, broken bones and brain damage, often require long, painful rehabilitation periods,” he said.

“This is a time of the year where people should be spending time with their loved ones, not lying in a hospital bed, staring at a vastly different future to the one they had planned.”