DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – A Volusia County hospital saw a record number of trauma patients admitted during the annual Bike Week festival in Daytona Beach, according to numbers released by Halifax Health.
Bike Week began March 5 and ran through March 14. In that same 10-day period, 150 trauma patients were received by Halifax Health, hospital officials said. Of those admissions, numbers show 91 were related to Bike Week, compared to an average of 62 admissions over the last four years.
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Hospital officials said the trauma team was activated 97 times in the 10-day period, 74 times for Bike Week-related incidents. Of the patients admitted during that time, 80 of them were motorcycle crash-related, 14 of them were motorcycle passengers, and just under half of them were wearing helmets, according to the data.
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“Our community saw an unusual number of total patients needing trauma care during Bike Week,” RN and Director of Nursing Lindsay Martin said. “We had more than the usual amount of accidents at home and work places. At one point, we had four patients needing trauma care at the same time.”
The record number of patients was made up of Volusia County residents, out-of-county and out-of-state visitors.
“Halifax Health was created to take care of the people of the community and that includes those visiting the community. We have the highest level of care in the area and amazing team members who save lives every day,” said Halifax Health President and CEO Jeff Feasel.
Halifax Health is home to the only trauma center in Volusia and Flagler counties, according to a news release, and partners with the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office to provide helicopter transport to patients.
As of Wednesday, 10 patients remained in ICU, with eight on ventilators and seven in medical surgical units, the release said.
The numbers included in this report are preliminary and data will not be finalized until all patients have been discharged, hospital officials noted in the release.
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