June 16, 2006
Health Minister Tim Sale today announced an expanded four-week education campaign to remind Manitobans throughout the province about the proper use of emergency departments and how to find appropriate alternatives.
“This campaign will provide information to help patients access the appropriate level of service,” said Sale. “Emergency departments are busy places and in many cases medical treatment can be provided by a family doctor or a local health clinic instead of an emergency room.”
Sale said the provincewide four-week newspaper and radio campaign will begin today.
Sale said patients will be encouraged to go to an emergency department for serious conditions and will be provided with information on how to access other services. Patients attending an emergency department are treated in order of need, not time of arrival. How long a person waits depends on how urgently care is required, how urgently others in the emergency room need care and how many people are in need of care.
Patients in an emergency department are assigned to one of four categories:
Emergency: heart attack, major trauma, severe head injury, amputation, severe difficulty breathing (due to an allergic reaction or other cause), unconsciousness and severe bleeding.
Urgent: a head injury but still awake, deep cut, foreign body in the eyes or ears, high fever in an infant or toddler, chest pain (not related to a known heart problem) and signs of serious infection.
Less Urgent: possible fracture/sprain, back pain, skin/wound infection and headaches.
Non-Urgent: cold, minor cut, bite, sore throat and sinus problem.
Sale said Manitobans have other choices if they’re not sure if they need to go to an emergency department. Those choices include:
Contacting Health Links-Info Santé for answers to questions about common health concerns. This telephone health-information service is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week by knowledgeable, experienced nurses and is free of charge everywhere in Manitoba. Call 788-8200 in Winnipeg or 1-888-315-9257 toll-free elsewhere in the province.
Contacting a family doctor, local health clinic, access centre or urgent care centre to treat mild or chronic headache, back pain or stomach pain, a minor cut or burn, or a cold, sore throat or sinus problem.
Sale reminded Manitobans to ask about their family doctor’s regular office hours and after-hours availability because a family doctor knows a patient’s medical history best.
Earlier this month, the health minister announced a four-point plan to help regional health authorities bolster emergency department services in Manitoba hospitals this summer. The plan stresses:
employing alternate-staffing models to better use nurses and family physicians,
improving co-ordination between regional health authorities,
providing an incentive program for doctors to work hard-to-fill shifts in emergency departments, and
promoting appropriate use of emergency departments.
“We are approaching one of the busiest seasons for emergency departments,” said Sale. “Access to health information is a phone call away, meaning Manitobans can make informed decisions on treatment of less severe illnesses at home which takes pressure off hospital emergency departments, urgent care centres and doctors’ offices.”
The total cost of the campaign is estimated at $125,000.
On average, more than 1,500 people visit emergency departments in Manitoba every day.
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