2134 Evidence based medicine - a FORCE for environmental sustainability

Conclusion The carbon count of a wrist splint (Promedics wrist splint) was found to be 0.967 kgCO2e whilst that of a bandage was 0.038 kgCO2e, meaning a carbon reduction of 0.929613 kgCO2e per patient. As it is estimated that there are approximately 60,000 annual presentations to UK Emergency Departments with buckle fractures of the wrist this would equate to a potential reduction of 55,777 kgCO2e (56 tonnes CO2e). To put this into context on average a tree absorbs in the region of 25 kgCO2e a year, therefore to offset the use of splints instead of a bandage more than two thousand trees would need to be planted. The FORCE team demonstrated that treatment with a bandage had a lower financial cost for families and the NHS and our evidence suggests a lower carbon cost too. We believe this obligates those caring for children and young people in the emergency department to explore making such a change for their population.
Source: Emergency Medicine Journal - Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Tags: APEM Lightning Papers Source Type: research