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It occurred to me whilst riding around Chicksands today, should we be limiting risky activities such as riding jumps and stuff in case we need to use Accident and Emergency / ambulances given the coronavirus situation?
Ambulances are regular visitors to bike parks.
I know I've injured myself plenty of times riding MTB resulting in A and E trips but fortunately never requiring and ambulance.
I've felt guilty in the past for using hospitals as a result of my frivolous activity and I expect we'd be met with disdain by hospital staff turning up with biking related injury at present.
It's a very worthy thought but I'm not sure a&e departments deal with Corona virus cases at all.
I'm sure one of our resident medics can shed more light on the issue though.
I don't think ambulances are currently full of Corona patients yet. What I do think is we should all try to catch the virus now, before the hospitals are too busy to give us the treatment we need.
Yes, I think that is a very valid point and I think we should be more careful to reduce the risk of stretching an NHS which is likely to be at its limits. Our local hospital (Dumfries) is already under great pressure before coronavirus has hit. All departments will be affected, A+E will have to make arrangements to accommodate possible cases, staff will be self isolating themselves, Anaesthetists will be needing to attend to ICU patients rather than folk who need a broken arm set. Add to that that you will likely be waiting longer for an ambulance or A+E assessment (ambulances will be transferring coronavirus cases to hospital and will need cleaned after). Although the numbers haven't really ramped up yet, services are being re-designed to accomodate the likely impact.
Make sense but hopefully people won't stop riding, maybe just ease off a wee bit.
A nationwide reduction in speed limits would also help to reduce the number of accidents and the severity of them when they do occur. Something like 30
> 20, 60 > 40 and 70 > 50 might work.
The other issue is that if you need treatment such as surgery for broken collar bones etc when it gets really busy then you are not going to be top of the list.
I am def thinking of reducing risk for a while.
A nationwide reduction in speed limits would also help to reduce the number of accidents and the severity of them when they do occur. Something like 30
> 20, 60 > 40 and 70 > 50 might work.
Too right. By far the greatest and unnecessary burden on ambulance and A&E services is caused by collisions involving motor vehicles. Riding our bikes we may put ourselves at risk but we are certainly not going to put others at risk.
There were 27,820 people killed or seriously injured (KSI)
reported to the police in the year ending June 2019.
I don't have the stats for Singletrack forum users, but I don't think we can compete with drivers for risky behaviour.
As someone pointed out to me, if you are meant to be self isolating and crash while riding and end up in A&E, it's a pretty epic fail
It’s a very worthy thought but I’m not sure a&e departments deal with Corona virus cases at all.
I’m sure one of our resident medics can shed more light on the issue though.
They do if they’re suffering adverse symptoms or suffering from another complaint as well as covid-19. Or of they’re idiots and walk in with their cold symptoms.
OP that’s not a bad idea reducing risks to avoid injuries.
The simple answer is that yes you should moderate.
To have an operation you need a theatre and ventilator.
Both these things (along with the anaesthetist) are going to be in very short supply.
COVID-19 patients are being asked not to attend A&E (depending on Trust) but a separate area. Difficulty will be with 20% of frontline staff off sick it will be impossible to run full A&E service and COVID-19, so not getting ill is the best idea
Yes, it's probably a good idea to ease back and ride within you limits at th moment, but as we've all seen in the local supermarkets, the majority of people don't actually give a **** about anyone else and are too damn selfish to care.
Yes I'm definitely planning to ease back, no big hucks, for the reasons above
By far the greatest and unnecessary burden on ambulance and A&E services is caused by collisions involving motor vehicles
Stats would be interesting, I thought alcohol was the biggest cause of visits...
Here we go, RTCs 8% for Europe.
https://www.eurosafe.eu.com/look-at-the-figures/accident-emergency-cases
By far the greatest and unnecessary burden on ambulance and A&E services is caused by collisions involving motor vehicles
It isn’t.
Very laudible thought OP and totally agree.
Stay out of ICU and maybe it's not too big a deal. A fracture won't really matter too much. Not many orthopods likely to be treating patients with pneumonia.
Very very responsible thought process and I too will be using the same logic when doing a lot of things in the coming months.
sorry but comparing road traffic accidents to cycling is absurd. The amount of visits to the a&e from people partaking in a hobby can not be compared to that of people travelling to work/school. Bottom line for me is, I will be choosing to reduce the risk of being a drain on important resources at this time by choosing not to take as meany risks in my hobbies/spare time.
Seems to me if you break something or need medical attention from an MTB crash at the height of this epidemic then you'll simply be turned away from the hospital and you'll have to deal with it on your own. If you're fine with self-treating a broken bone or serious flesh wound then carry on, otherwise I'd exercise some caution.
I don’t have the stats for Singletrack forum users, but I don’t think we can compete with drivers for risky behaviour.
I like your optimism.
Circa 600 car journeys per person in the UK per year.
That's 4.2*10^10 nationally per year.
At 30k accidents per year that's a whopping 1 accident for every 1.4 million journeys per year.
I don't have stats for the average STW user but I don't think we can compete with drivers for low risk activity.
Not many orthopods likely to be treating patients with pneumonia.
You are completely wrong about that. 20% of clinicians are expected to be off sick. You will be grateful for any doc seeing you
Isn't this is happening in Italy?
Amateur cyclists asked to keep off the roads to reduce the additional healthcare burden caused by RTC's.
A searing indictment of how dangerous riding on the road is in Italy?
I'd be turning the risk down on most things a little. It's not just direct burden on NHS it's about making sure my immune system and health isn't battling something else if I do catch CV or if I need to help a family member who is ill etc. Stay fit, stay healthy and focus on the bigger, longer term picture.
Time to push the selfish urges down the list and focus on what's good for our families, communities and colleagues.
Well said g-d
By far the greatest and unnecessary burden on ambulance and A&E services is caused by collisions involving motor vehicles
It isn’t.
I have done no research, but I reckon it's neither RTCs or broken MTBers.
However, maybe we could consider banning the sale and consumption of alcohol over the coming weeks? I have an inkling that could be a big contributor to demand on ambulance & A&E services.
After being in my local a & e one Friday night a few weeks ago (long story) chakaping you my friend are spot on.
However, maybe we could consider banning the sale and consumption of alcohol over the coming weeks?
In the panic buying in our local Sainsbury the lager aisle has been cleared out. Defies logic.... There's a pandemic you're at home due to risk of life threatening illness affecting you and your loved ones so what you want is to chug down a case of Stella making you dehydrated, headachey and muddle headed. It's not even decent beer that's sold out just the massive multipacks of yellow froth.
@funkydunc i work in a hospital/s. Sheer majority of staff will not be too sick.
Until they start restricting hospital entry and stop outpatient appointments it's BAU with social distancing to flatten the curve.
Completely agree with the principle of riding within our limits, but that's common sense at all times.
Stay out of ICU and maybe it’s not too big a deal. A fracture won’t really matter too much. Not many orthopods likely to be treating patients with pneumonia.
Consultants, nurses, porters, radiographers and admin staff amongst others all taken up because you broke a bone and thought it’s fine as I won’t be going to ICU.
That's no different to normal, when it would still be ludicrous to suggest "it's ok" and "it's just a broken bone".
That’s no different to normal, when it would still be ludicrous to suggest “it’s ok” and “it’s just a broken bone”.
Trust me I’ve spent a weekend at work it’s very very very different.
Is there any chance all these miserable threads could be amalgamated into one all encompassing durge fest?
Here in sunny Spain, the risk of unnecessary cycling injuries clogging up A&E has been taken out of our hands, all leisure cycling is banned with a fine of between 1,500 and 600,000 Euros or 3 months in prison for breach. Initially I thought it was road only and had devised a local loop devoid of population, gave it a try on Saturday and only saw a goatherd in the distance in 30km. Catalan federation has clarified the situation so it's no cycling for 2 weeks.
Until they start restricting hospital entry and stop outpatient appointments it’s BAU with social distancing to flatten the curve.
Wait until you arrive at work tomorrow. Elective surgery is being cancelled, outpatient appointments are being stopped on site. It’s not going to be BAU from tomorrow for any hospital.
Isn’t this is happening in Italy?
Amateur cyclists asked to keep off the roads to reduce the additional healthcare burden caused by RTC’s.
A searing indictment of how dangerous riding on the road is in Italy?
Peak BS has been found
