Victorians are being challenged to look after themselves this summer as a new report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) finds injury-related hospitalisations increase with the warmer weather.
Head of Health Systems Group at AIHW, Adrian Webster said the Institute’s report, Injury in Australia 2020–21, showed there had been around 1,600 injury-related hospitalisations across the country every day last summer, a seven per cent increase from the 1,500 a day in 2018–19 (prior to COVID).
Dr Webster said the national Report examined injuries which required admission to hospital but did not include injuries where a person attended an emergency department without a hospital admission.
“Over the summer months, we see a peak in certain causes of injury,” Dr Webster said.
“These include transport-related injuries (3,100 in late January 2021, compared to 2,500 in early June 2021), weather-related injuries (125 hospital admissions in late November 2020, compared to six in early July 2020) and drownings and submersion injuries (65 hospitalisations in late January 2021, compared to nine in early June 2021),” he said.
“For people considering undertaking DIY projects during the summer holidays, it is worth noting that during 2020–21 (not just summer) there were 6,600 hospitalisations due to falls on or from ladders and 17,500 due to contact with tools or machinery.”
Dr Webster said the top three causes of hospitalisation for injury in 2020–21 were falls, contact with objects and transport accidents.
He said most injuries, whether accidental or intentional, were preventable, yet remained a major cause of hospitalisation and death in Australia.
“Sadly, there is a peak in hospitalisations for assault over the summer months,” he said.
“There were 1,200 assault-related hospital admissions in late December 2020, compared to 770 in late June 2021.”
Dr Webster said the Report included an interactive display showing how hospitalisations for injury changed over the seasons.
The AIHW Report can be viewed at this PS News link and the interactive display at this link.
