Orthopedic clinics and injury treatment centers across the nation are being affected as potential patients stay home and off the roads due to the coronavirus pandemic. Peak traffic times and car crash “zones” have dipped. Accident hot spots in big cities like Los Angeles, Atlanta, and New York City are plummeting and directly affecting the rates of patients flowing into ERs, trauma units and chiropractor and injury specialist offices.
So far, it appears as though 2020 will be among the lowest years in terms of trauma admits.
One report disclosed that San Francisco [Fire Department Calls for Service] fell to 17-year low of 110 traffic accidents over the course of one week. Patients are staying so healthy and out of the ER that some insurance companies, notably Allstate, American Family and others have had to rebate, cumulatively, over 800 million dollars in policy holders.
Awwww….
Both Sides of the Personal Injury Industry
Orthopedic traumatologists, physical therapists, chiropractors, and other specialists are beginning to understand how COVID-19 is affecting their practices. Could trauma cases stay down or even continue to decline even as the country slowly opens up? More than a few people say “yes.” In part because one of the enduring legacies of this period may well be a recession and above average unemployment.
Not All Accidents Are Gone
In light of less traffic and fewer people on the road, the number of auto accidents have fallen, but their severity is worse. People are driving faster and more recklessly. Faster speeds mean more trauma.
In this age of coronavirus where can ortho trauma cases go? Will ambulances dump these patients off at the local struggling hospital with precious few beds for the random auto accident case? Dr. John Packer of AICA Orthopedics recommends these steps for someone who has endured a car accident during Covid-19 and is unsure of what to do. Going to urgent care facilities will help injury patients as well as practitioners that are not equipped for the coronavirus.
Mortality Causes Are Shifting
As of this writing, more than 40,000 patients have died from complications relative to COVID-19. On average, 40,000 Americans die from accident related causes each year. Before 2020 is done, it is entirely within the range of possibility that more than 100,000 Americans will have died from this virus. The central problem, of course, is that the U.S. healthcare system is prepared for 40,000 accident related deaths, but not double or triple that number from COVID-19.
