Search

Objective: To describe mental health presentations to a tertiary ED in New Zealand during a national COVID‐19 lockdown. Methods: A retrospective, comparative cohort study in Christchurch Hospital, New Zealand. Results: There was a 3510 (37%)‐patient decrease in all presentations to Christchurch Hospital ED during the 5‐week COVID‐19 lockdown period from 26 March 2020 to 28 April 2020, compared to a 111 (1.2%)‐patient decrease in the same time period in the previous year (P < 0.00001). There is usually a seasonal reduction in mental health attendances at this time of year compared to the weeks before. In 2019, there was a 49 (9.8%)‐patient reduction in mental health presentations, whereas in 2020 there was a 193 (34%)‐patient reduction (P < 0.001). In 2020, the proportion of mental health attendances compared to all ED attendances during the 5‐week lockdown period was similar to the 5‐week pre‐lockdown period (564/9460 vs 371/5950, P = 0.48). The proportion of mental health patients presenting due to overdose increased by 6.5% (158/564 vs 128/371, P = 0.035); those due to self‐harm increased by 3.5% (35/564 vs 36/371, P = 0.049). The proportion of mental health presentations due to anxiety, depression and other non‐self‐harm/overdose complaints decreased by 10% (371/564 vs 207/371, P = 0.002). The proportion of overdoses of paracetamol and ibuprofen increased by 13.4% during lockdown (22/158 vs 35/128, P = 0.005). Conclusions: During the COVID‐19 lockdown, both overall ED presentations as well as mental health‐related presentations decreased. There was a relative increase in overdoses and self‐harm, particularly involving paracetamol and ibuprofen. A retrospective, comparative cohort study in Christchurch Hospital, New Zealand, of mental health presentations to the ED during COVID‐19 lockdown. During the COVID‐19 lockdown, both overall ED presentations as well as mental health‐related presentations decreased. There was a relative increase in overdoses and self‐harm, particularly involving paracetamol and ibuprofen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first International People in Disasters Conference was held in Christchurch, Aotearoa/New Zealand, from 24 to 26 February 2016. The conference showcased the dilemmas of living and working within a disaster context, and best practice approaches to response and recovery. The Canterbury earthquakes of 2010 and 2011, particularly the earthquake of 22 February 2011, were the disasters of most interest to delegates. Key messages driving this conference were: that people’s narratives are healing; to learn from lessons of past disasters; that human-animal bonds are important; to trust each other; that shared leadership and decisionmaking works best; that ethnic minorities contribute to a holistic response and recovery; that long-term mental health care is required; and to transform to a new future. These key messages were embedded in the conference themes: response, recovery, and resilience. New insight was provided on the value of community and cultural groups as first responders. The significant role of community responses after the Christchurch Earthquake led to Aotearoa/New Zealand’s Ministry of Social Development revising its disaster policy to support community initiatives. Other important topics included: 1) diminished psychosocial wellbeing, 2) treatments for disaster-related mental illness, 3) initiatives that have empowered the psychosocial recovery of Christchurch’s population, and 4) resilient individuals and communities managing their own recovery. This Special Issue includes papers on: caring for companion animals, compassion fatigue of nurses, promoting Māori psychosocial recovery, family violence, managing diabetes post-disaster, comparing community recovery projects in Aotearoa/New Zealand and Japan, wellbeing of older people, and posttraumatic growth. As Guest Editors for this special edition, we are delighted with the results of the conference and hope that the following papers will be useful to researchers and practitioners working in the fields of disaster response, recovery, and resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 1995 International Golden Oldies Festival of Rugby attracted nearly 6000 rugby players to Christchurch for one week of rugby and socialisation. The staff of Christchurch Hospital Emergency Department were apprehensive about the likely increased demand for the department's services. This paper discusses the medical planning and the medical consequences of the tournament. This may assist medical planning for similar tournaments in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To examine self-perceived health status during the first year following mild closed head injury., Methods: At 1 week, and at 3, 6 and 12 months post-injury, 37 patients with mild closed head injury completed written versions of the Rivermead Post-Concussion Symptoms Questionnaire (RPSQ), the Rivermead Head-Injury Follow-up Questionnaire (RHIFQ) and the SF-36 Health Survey. Thirty-seven controls provided baselines for the SF-36 and the RPSQ., Results: The 3 questionnaires conveyed differing impressions of recovery. On the RPSQ, the patients exhibited ongoing symptomatic complaints and higher scores compared with controls. The RHIFQ conveyed a better recovery in terms of everyday function. The SF-36 showed the best recovery, with the mild closed head injury group achieving normal scores at 3, 6 and 12 months. Regression analyses indicated an influence of IQ, but not of age, education, or clinical measures of injury severity, on long-term health status., Conclusion: Recovery after mild closed head injury can involve a dichotomy of persistent post-concussional symptoms but relatively normal functionality and quality of life. In addition to indicating an influence of IQ on perception of recovery in mild closed head injury, our findings demonstrate that the nature of self-report questionnaires considerably influences the picture of recovery. This emphasizes the importance of methods unaffected by IQ and self-evaluative accuracy in the assessment of mild closed head injury.

Aim: To describe the effect of a pilot national telephone advice service (Healthline) on a public hospital emergency department., Methods: We prospectively gathered information from the Christchurch Hospital Emergency Department (ED) computer- and non-computer-based information systems, for a six-month period during the operation of Healthline. We compared the data with five earlier periods when Healthline was not running. In addition, Healthline collected and analysed data from call log information., Results: There was a small increase (1.1%) in ED attendance during the study period. Patients referred by Healthline had a similar triage distribution to the general ED population, but a lower admission rate (29% vs 47%). Telephone calls to the ED dropped dramatically during the study period., Conclusions: Healthline had little effect on overall ED census and appeared to refer patients with similar acuity to the general ED census. It decreased the workload for ED nursing staff charged with answering advice calls.