Being brought to the hospital drunk, poisoned, traumatized: one thing surprised me over the weekend

As the representative of the Republican Vilnius University Hospital (RVUL) informed the portal tv3.lt, the flow of patients was even lower during the Easter weekend.

“The numbers in the Emergency Department over the Easter weekend were not surprising, they were similar to or even below average with around 250 patients each on Saturday and Sunday. Yesterday there were just over 200 of them, and the annual daily average is around 280-300 patients,” commented Dalia Smagurauskaitė.

Injuries prevailed, 50 persons had indigestion

According to her, injuries typical of the warm season prevailed, caused by carelessness, overestimating one’s strength, and drinking too much alcohol.

“Usually these are ankle, forearm bone fractures, ligament sprains, etc. There were also three patients with polytrauma (that is, multiple body injuries),” she said.

As the representative of the hospital indicated, the number of patients admitted to the department due to alcohol poisoning and intoxication from psychotropic substances was normal – about 35 people during the three days of the holiday weekend.

At that time, half a dozen patients applied for various types of abdominal pain.

Worked in normal mode

VUL Santaras clinics also said that they received a normal flow of patients, so work in the Emergency Department continued as usual.

The portal tv3.lt recalls that it wrote that during the winter holidays, some hospitals needed to organize the work of the Emergency Department very carefully, because at that time more patients not only with acute illnesses, but also with chronic diseases, some of whom even have to be resuscitated urgently.

However, this time the Easter weekend was unusually quiet at Santara clinics, the flow of patients suffering from cardiovascular diseases, which usually increases during non-working days, was not noticed.

Urges you to self-assess, you really need urgent help

Doctors also point out that there are always patients who go to the Emergency Department, even though their disorder does not meet the criteria for emergency care.

The State Health Insurance Fund also urges you to assess whether you would not be able to get the necessary help during the polyclinic’s working hours.

It is true that in Lithuania, all medical institutions providing family medicine services must ensure uninterrupted health care for patients covered by compulsory health insurance (PSI). For this reason, many medical facilities have doctors on call after hours, on weekends or on holidays.

It is recommended that patients contact the doctor on call with the same questions as their family doctor: in case of acute illness, if a certificate of incapacity for work is needed, etc.

You should only go to the emergency department of a hospital if you need urgent medical attention. For example, in the event of a real threat to health or life – in the event of an injury, severe injury, acute poisoning, etc.

If you experience a stroke or heart attack, lose consciousness, or get into a car accident, you should immediately call an ambulance by calling 112.

The health insurance funds remind that the necessary medical assistance is provided free of charge to all permanent residents of Lithuania, both those insured by PSD and those without this insurance, in all health care institutions of the country.