World Youth Day 2008: did it stress Sydney hospitals?

Objective: To characterise the nature and impact of World Youth Day (WYD) 2008 on emergency department (ED) presentations at key hospitals. Design, setting and participants: Retrospective analysis of WYD pilgrims presenting to the EDs of St Vincent's Hospital and Sydney Hospital, 9-23 July 2008. Main outcome measures: Frequency of pilgrim ED presentations; presenting complaint, Australasian Triage Scale category, diagnosis, admission to hospital and demographic characteristics. Results: 191 pilgrims presented at the two EDs during the study period, comprising 7.8% of all visits to these EDs. Pilgrims had a median age of 22 years, and most were international visitors. The fer ale-to-male ratio was 1.7: 1. The most common diagnoses were lower limb strain or sprain, infections, and acute asthma. Pilgrims presented with less severe illnesses (with lower triage scores), and were less likely to be admitted to hospital than other patients. Conclusions: The pilgrim caseload was small, and these presentations were less acute and less likely to result in admission than non-pilgrim presentations. Thus, the overall impact on the hospitals was very small.