Island Health is looking to reduce the volume of people heading to Nanaimo Regional General Hospital’s emergency department with its annual campaign.
Nanaimo has the busiest emergency department on Vancouver Island, which is visited by an average 200 people a day, according to Toni O’Keeffe, vice-president of communications and public relations for Island Health.
She said the annual education campaign is to help people understand when it’s appropriate to go to the emergency and when to go to a walk-in clinic or physician’s office.
Emergency departments treat life threatening and urgent medical conditions like extreme pain and signs of a heart attack or stroke, while someone with a stomach ache should go to a general practitioner or walk-in clinic or a pharmacy if they’ve stubbed a toe, a recent print ad shows.
“Use the emergency department when you need it and educate yourself and your family on other services that are available to you in the community, like walk-in clinics; there’s also the HealthLink B.C. website,” she said.