Protect the NHS, part 2. Reduce avoidable hospital admissions.

[I like Skol]

Just to be clear, let me say it AGAIN. I am not proposing that we should stop cycling, just that we should take the safer option where there is a choice. I am also not singling out just cyclists as the only group that should consider this, but as this is a cycling forum it seems reasonable to discuss it in relation to cycling?

 

[dan_bo]

Skol don't waste your time this place is teeming with pillocks.

 

[classic33]

Maybe I've been lucky, but I've only needed hospital treatment once because of what happened whilst cycling.

I got hit by a car, being driven by a driver who's final defense was he thought I was a bus.

 

[itboffin]

i've just renewed my Rouvy 6 month subscription using this code for 33% off Meghil20 makes 6 months family sub for $67.20 USD

and no i dont work for Rouvy or get any kind of kickbacks I just found it to be a good easy to use realistic online tool, i still and will continue to ride outdoors doing 1 hour per week day and 3 ish at the weather is the weather is suitable, as for turbo training i cant bare anything more than an hour regardless of software or movies etc ts just boring hot and too hard. I ride a bike because i love the countryside views not a gym workout.

 

[Johnsco]

During the first lock-down I got my old Carlton running that had laid dormant in the garage for over 30 years.
Best thing I've done in years.
The second was joining Cycle Chat.

 

[Sharky]

Slightly OT, but when you go out for a ride, do you carry a face mask? I only do short rides and assume that I will get round without stopping but once or thrice I have come to grief and needed assistance. So should really be wearing a mask in these situations.
I think from now on, will keep a face mask in my tool bag.

 

[lazybloke]

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So, seven months after a three week lockdown " To protect the NHS" we now have a four week lockdown "To protect the NHS".
What has all the sacrifice this year been for? We are no further forward, but as long as we protect the NHS all is fine. The country can fall apart and people can die through lack of care and attention that NHS was set up to provide. The economy is going to be in ruins and countless thousands will be out of work. But the NHS will still be there sucking countless £millions but not giving any care to those that need it.

Yes, it's a good system.

Rather than lockdown, would you prefer to allow the ever increasing infection rate to overwhelm the NHS to the point that patients with treatable diseases can no longer be admitted and are sent away to suffer at home?
Surely better to lockdown so that the R rate is lowered, and hospitals canavoid being overwhelmed.

What would you propose instead of a lockdown? Handwashing, social-distancing, masks, Test & Trace, a rule of six, and three tiers of restrictions haven't worked - do you have any better ideas? Which patients would you proritise when there's a waiting list outside the hospital? Who would you choose to live or die?


Yes, the costs of managing Covid19 are enormous, but a sick economy will recover in time. Death isn't quite so reversible.

 

[weareHKR]

Slightly OT, but when you go out for a ride, do you carry a face mask?

Tbh I did think about this before the first lockdown, purely because I felt an increase in traffic pollution.
Although I never did anything about it at the time, during the first lockdown the air appeared to get a lot cleaner, for obvious reasons.
However, I probably think it's a good time to start using a mask personally.

 

[Blue Hills]

Not arguing with that. But this is not a thread about that topic.

The question is, given where we are now, regardless of fault or mistakes that got us here, should we once again make the safe choice and try to actively minimise the chance of injuries and hospitalisation? I'm not saying don't exercise, just make sensible choices like going for a road ride instead of tearing across moorland and mountain tracks on an MTB, or switch off your Strava and forget and PBs etc? Just tone it down a bit to play it safe, small changes can make a big difference.

Thanks for clarifying.
I feared from your initial post you were suggesting that we don't go out for rides and instead do our civic duty by sitting on the sofa glugging wine and eating crisps. This hell is a major threat to physical and mental health, cycling isn't and will get a lot of folk through it.
During the last deep lockdown it also allowed me to maintain my food supplies while minimising contact with others.
I will be going out for a fair few day rides.

 

[screenman]

Slightly OT, but when you go out for a ride, do you carry a face mask? I only do short rides and assume that I will get round without stopping but once or thrice I have come to grief and needed assistance. So should really be wearing a mask in these situations.
I think from now on, will keep a face mask in my tool bag.

Always carry a mask, even if I am going for a walk across the fields behind my house, it is not as if they are big and heavy.

 

[Blue Hills]

Maybe I've been lucky, but I've only needed hospital treatment once because of what happened whilst cycling.

I got hit by a car, being driven by a driver who's final defense was he thought I was a bus.

Quite. In a quarter of a century of being back into cycling I have had no serious incidents, despite doing a lot of that in london, which many folk thing mad. Have had a few other close shaves though.
Almost electrocuted myself as a kid fiddling with a light fitting.
Sitting in my car eating a butty had a branch the size of a large large tree itself fall straight towards me and crush several cars before falling just short of me.
Damn dangerous things trees. As are mad dogs, sex, corned beef tins, slippy pavement leaves, junk telly, the politics and current affairs bit at times, any number of things.
Gotta go, busy rewiring a plug, scoffing a box of pringles, glugging a cheeky red while perusing various passive aggressive moralising wind-up merchants on the burning issues of the day.

 

[Andy in Germany]

As others have said, if we're about minimising risk I think we need to think about motor vehicle traffic, which in Germany causes about 12 deaths a day directly, not including the damage caused indirectly through pollution, which can directly increase people's risk of being adversely affected by Covid.

Secondly, I'd suggest we stop sales of Alcohol, as many call-outs and hospital admissions are due to alcohol abuse: that alone would probably tip the balance in favour of the NHS.

Finally, stop sales of cigarettes and tobacco because the last thing we need is people deliberately damaging their lungs when we have a respiratory disease going around.

As to cycling: I'm in a high(ish) risk group from C-19 because I have Asthma. in the years BC (Before cycling) I would have several colds a year; the ensuing cough would last up to three months and I'd have to go to the doctors several times for treatment because I'd often develop bronchitis.
When I started cycling this dropped dramatically to about three colds a year which would last a maximum of a month, Bronchitis was now an annual occurrence, and generally required less treatment from the doctor.
When I started cycling longer distances this dramatic drop repeated and now a "bad" year means one cold, which is usually gone within a month and requires minimal intervention.

In other words, cycling has helped my immune system in dealing with respiratory diseases and viruses. if I stop or even reduce my cycling, I dramatically increase my risk of catching C-19 and requiring hospital treatment.

I know that this won't be quite as dramatic for other people, but immune systems generally work the same, so I'm not convinced it makes sense to tell people to reduce a relatively safe activity which is highly beneficial for our immunity (to say nothing of psychological health), at least until we have dealt with other riskier and more damaging activities.

[ETA: I'm aware that I'm also very fortunate: I rarely have to ride on busy roady and most of the time I'm riding on traffic free cycle lanes or access roads, so arguably the risks I take are much smaller than many others on this forum...]

 

[rogerzilla]

With pubs closed, the lack of drink-related injuries clogging A&E every Friday and Saturday should free up capacity there.

 

[PaulSB]

Just to be clear, let me say it AGAIN. I am not proposing that we should stop cycling, just that we should take the safer option where there is a choice. I am also not singling out just cyclists as the only group that should consider this, but as this is a cycling forum it seems reasonable to discuss it in relation to cycling?

I don't take risks on my bike. Can you explain what this safer option is please?

You seem to be implying cycling is inherently dangerous which it is not.

 

[PaulSB]

Slightly OT, but when you go out for a ride, do you carry a face mask? I only do short rides and assume that I will get round without stopping but once or thrice I have come to grief and needed assistance. So should really be wearing a mask in these situations.
I think from now on, will keep a face mask in my tool bag.

I always wear a buff and have been using this for the very limited time I need one.

Any other situation and I carry one of the several my wife made.