Floods to swamp Queensland Health, says AMA boss
Queensland’s flood crisis will severely strain the state’s health system for months, the Australian Medical Association (AMA) has warned.
According to a report in the Courier Mail, AMA Queensland president, Dr Gino Pecoraro, says health workers are already dealing with an increase in injuries and illness from the floods.
However the peak in health pressures is still weeks away he says, with the crisis still unfolding.
The most common injuries so far include cuts, sprains, dislocations, concussions and neck and back injuries resulting from people caught in flood waters, slipping or trying to clean up the mess the dirty tide has left behind.
However the AMAQ anticipates patients with infections to swell as food, water and sanitation continue to be compromised.
Infections will vary from ingestion varieties including gastroenteritis and parasitic infestations causing vomiting, diarrhoea, and abdominal pains to systemic infections.
Dr Pecoraro says doctors are also concerned for patients who’ve lost or are unable to access medications, or continue treatment regimes.
