Senseless rush

Emergency room with a rash instead of a heart attack

30 to 40 percent of patients in the emergency departments only have symptoms.

(Bild: APA/dpa/Holger Hollemann)

Nerves are on edge in the emergency departments of Upper Austrian hospitals: last year, there was a real rush during the Christmas vacations. Up to 40 percent of the "sick" patients only came in for minor complaints such as coughs, colds or rashes. An exasperated doctor talks about his daily routine.

"30 to 40 percent of the patients who come to our outpatient clinics, especially on public holidays, have no business being there. Over the past ten years, it has been noticeable that more and more younger people are coming to us who first enter their symptoms on Google and then read the worst possible diagnosis as the first hit," says Matthias Kölbl, head of the emergency outpatient department at the Ordensklinikum Linz Elisabethinen.