Among the 20,000 presentations to the Buderim Private Hospital’s emergency department during the past three years, one stands out.
A wombat bite was the memorable cause of the trouble.
ED director Mike Natale cannot talk about it in detail due to privacy reasons. But suffice to say that the bite happened at a zoo and was treated much the same as any other animal bite.
“You know you’re at an emergency department in Australia when you get a wombat bite,” Dr Natale said.
Sprains, cuts, broken limbs and chest pains are the bread and butter of any emergency department but the Buderim ED has also administered six snake anti-venoms in its time.
An examination of presentations to the department is evidence for Dr Natale of how the department has matured since its opening.
“You know you’ve got a real emergency department when you get that variety in presentations,” Dr Natale said.
The Buderim hospital’s emergency department, the first and only private emergency department on the Sunshine Coast, has just marked its third birthday.
When it opened in 2018 at a cost of $4 million, the Buderim ED comprised eight treatment bays and a resuscitation room.
Dr Natale said it now comprised 12 treatment bays and saw 30-35 patients daily.
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About 20,000 patients, including more than 8000-9000 brought by ambulance, have been treated in the ED since it opened.
“What’s amazing is that the patients are in a bed within 10 minutes of arrival which means that ambulances can get back on the road and do what they can do,” Dr Natale said.
Dr Natale said the average wait time to be seen in the Buderim ED was seven to eight minutes.
He said the hospital monitored when and how patients presented to the emergency department and rostered staff accordingly.
The department was also able save time through the involvement of specialist doctors, he said.
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“What may take four to five hours in your traditional emergency department, we get patients seen (more swiftly) and make the decisions with a specialist doctor right alongside,” he said.
The department has 10 staff on shift at any one time, including doctors, nurses and administration.
Although the 24/7 emergency department is within a private hospital, it treats both public and private patients.
A standard fee of $350 is payable and the remainder of the hospital costs are covered by Medicare except for an infectious disease test, which costs $50.
Information: buderimprivatehospital.com.au
