Falls are common on the waterfront

While falling at the beach or on the waterfront might not be among your top concerns, it is actually one of the most common beach-related injuries, according to emergency medicine physician Colleen A. McGrail, MD. She sees many of these injuries when on duty at one of Cape Cod Healthcare’s Urgent Care centers or at Falmouth Hospital’s emergency department.

Slips and falls tend to occur most among children and older adults and may happen while walking on dune pathway mats and stone breakwaters and revetments, getting on or off boats, or traipsing by a pool. It only takes a moment for children to stray onto possibly unsafe footing, she said. She has seen injuries among kids who were walking on dunes or stone riprap while out of sight of their parents.

A youngster with a laceration can usually be properly treated at urgent care, but an older patient may be sent to the hospital for imaging, she said.

“The 4-year-old who slips and hits his chin is likely to be handled a lot differently than a 90-year-old on a blood thinner who slips and falls and hits their head,” she said.

Beach Mishaps Beyond Falls

Other beach-related injuries and ills commonly seen at urgent care centers, according to Dr. McGrail, include:

• Tick and insect bites.
• Fishhook injuries. “A lot of people get them caught in their hands.”
• Allergic reactions.
• Dehydration.
• Flare-ups of a chronic condition (like diabetes, or respiratory and cardiovascular problems).

Exacerbations of chronic conditions might happen when someone travels and forgets their medications at home, said Dr. McGrail. People turn to Cape Cod Healthcare Urgent Care centers when they’re feeling sick and are away from their regular doctor or healthcare center. At the center, they are screened to determine if that’s the best location for treatment. A 38-year-old with abdominal pain may end up being sent to the emergency room for a CT (computed tomography) scan.

“We get a lot of chest pain, abdominal pain and trouble breathing (at urgent care centers and emergency rooms),” she said.

Too much sun and related dehydration also sends some folks to urgent care. She sees patients with heat-related dehydration more often than sunburn - little kids and older people are more at risk. Drinking alcohol can worsen the danger.

Bug bites, stings and rashes are also best treated at one of the urgent care centers, Dr. McGrail said.

Safety Tips

Some advice for tourists and locals from Dr. McGrail includes:

• Wear shoes on the beach.
• Remember to bring your prescription medications with you.
• Be especially careful of little children at the water’s edge or in shallow water. “Parents should watch them closely. It only takes a few minutes” for them to get in trouble.

All these warm weather problems add to the mix of other injuries, colds, COVID-19 and illnesses diagnosed and treated at urgent care, and makes “the Cape an interesting place to work,” she said.