The Star: March 07, 2024

Thursday March 7 2024 The Star
CHRISTCHURCH Hospital’s
emergency department was
in high demand on Tuesday
night, with more than 100
people waiting for care.
Te Whatu Ora Waitaha
group director of operations
Jo Gibbs said more than 100
people were being cared for in
the ED at 9.15pm on Tuesday.
“There is no single reason
for high numbers of patients
attending at present, but we are
currently seeing patients with a
range of complex conditions.”
Gibbs said from midnight
Monday to midnight Tuesday
the ED saw 357 patients.
“The usual number of attendances
is between 330 and
370 people every day,” Gibbs
said.
“What made yesterday and
last night particularly challenging
was the large number of
very unwell patients all requiring
care at the same time – at
its peak there were 124 people
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
Hospital ED swamped with patients
THOUSANDS OF dollars of
prizes will be up for grabs at the
Les Mills City2Surf in 10 days.
Smiths City is putting up a
smart TV, portable bluetooth
speaker and headphones set,
plus thousands in vouchers will
be given away.
The South
Island’s largest
fun run offers
two distances –
6km and 12km
–with both
routes finishing
in New
Brighton.
The 12km
route starts first, in Latimer
Square at 9am, and the 6km in
Porritt Park at 9.45am.
This year’s event has one of the
largest prize pools ever for lucky
entrants.
Prize winners are drawn
randomly from entrants’ bib
numbers. Spot prizes will also
be given away.
“It’s not how fast you are, you
just need to participate to be in
to win,” said Star Media regional
manager Steve McCaughan.
Thousands of dollars worth of
Thermatech and Brooks Running
vouchers are up for grabs,
plus smart watches and gear
from Fitness New Zealand.
The Christchurch Casino,
Sport Canterbury, Canterbury
University and Musashi will be
providing spot goodies for lucky
winners.
All entrants over the age of 18
in the department, it dropped
to 107 between 9 and 10pm
and 87 at midnight and that is
still a large number of unwell
people to be looked after. The
usual number of patients at
midnight is 40-60.
At 8.30am on Wednesday,
34 patients were being looked
after in the ED.
“Last night the admission
rate was 32 per cent – which
means almost a third of all
people coming to ED were so
will get a free Musashi sports
drink and bar as they cross the
finishing line.
“Everything is on track for a
great day to be had by all,” said
McCaughan.
Cholmondeley Children’s
Home is the supporting charity
this year.
Donations can be made during
online registration.
sick that they needed to be
admitted to hospital,” Gibbs
said.
“There was no particular
cause or common reasons for
admissions or the high acuity
– the only trend yesterday and
last night was that there were
a lot of medical, rather than
surgical admissions.
“We’d like to thank everyone
for their patience, as some
people had to wait longer than
we would like.”
Great prizes up for
grabs in City2Surf
Steve
McCaughan
BE IN TO WIN: This year’s City2Surf has one of the largest
prize pools ever, with prizes drawn randomly.
HOW TO ENTER
Online registrations
are still available at
www.city2surf.co.nz
for the 6km and 12km
until noon on Saturday,
March 16. Entry costs
$40 for adults and $20
for children.
After registering you
can pick up an entry
pack at Les Mills on
Cashel St until 4pm on
the Saturday.
You can also
buy an entry pack
at FreshChoice
supermarkets, The
Frontrunner Colombo,
Fitness New Zealand on
Papanui Rd or at the
start lines.
Late entry packs
purchased on the start
line are $45.
Organisers recommend
arriving one hour before the
start, to enjoy the atmosphere, a
coffee and warm-ups conducted
by Les Mills.
NEWS 3
In Brief
Man arrested over
pharmacy robbery
Police have arrested a man
in relation to the aggravated
robbery of Bargain Chemist on
Langdons Rd, Papanui, on 23
February. The 60-year-old has
been charged with aggravated
robbery.
Urbanist to speak on
city transformation
The man behind the
transformation of city life
in Barcelona is coming to
Christchurch. Leading urbanist
Salvador Rueda will speak at the
first Christchurch Conversations
of the year tonight from 6pm in
Tūranga’s TSB Space. Presented by
Te Pūtahi Centre for Architecture
and City Making, An Urban
Revolution to Transform City Life,
will centre around Rueda’s work
taking street space traditionally
used for motor vehicles and
opening it up to things like
walking and cycling. “We are so
thrilled to have Salvador here,
to kick this year’s Christchurch
Conversations series off,”
Te Pūtahi Director Jessica
Halliday said. The Christchurch
Conversations series will run
through winter 2024, focusing on
Neighbourhood Transformations.
Successful test of
earthquake solutions
Canterbury University engineers
have been able to test earthquake
innovations under ‘real life’
conditions at a ground-breaking
laboratory in China. Tonji
University in Shanghai has
three-storey buildings and ‘shake
tables’ constructed to gauge the
effectiveness of engineering
solutions. “New Zealand is at
the cutting edge of earthquake
engineering, but we would never
be able to test our solutions on
a three-storey building in an
earthquake laboratory back home,”
said University of Canterbury
professor Greg MacRae. Testing
wraps up this month then data will
be analysed. Several innovations
to reduce building damage and
increase resilience were tested
along with some non-structural
construction elements like
partition walls, sprinklers and
ceilings.
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