High Season for Ticks May Mean Higher Urgent Care Traffic in Vacation Spots

As the summer winds down and families head out for one more adventure before the kids go back to school, campsites and rustic lakes are packed—not only with outdoor types, but hungry ticks. A recent post on Healthway.com gave consumers a ton of information on signs they may have been bitten by a tick or, worse, that they may have contracted a tick-borne disease. Surely other media outlets will be doing the same, perhaps compelling travelers to check themselves and their children for ticks, and ultimately leading them to get themselves checked out if they do find one. Various urgent care centers situated in vacation regions have conducted promotions like offering free tick removers, but another way to draw attention to both the need for vigilance in the wild and your urgent care operation’s capabilities is to establish one of your clinicians as a quotable expert local media can turn to for health-related topics. Jack Cornwell, MD, of CareWell Urgent Care in South Dennis, MA was quoted extensively in the Healthway.com article, explaining the symptoms and time-to-onset of Lyme disease after being bitten by a tick. He also explained to the writer—and, ultimately, prospective patients—that urgent care centers and other practices can aid in removing ticks and testing for various diseases, as well as the proper procedures for removing a tick at home. Be alert for seasonal changes that pose health risks in your area, and think about circulating press releases among local newspapers and TV and radio stations to spark interest in an article, making sure to list a contact person and including basic information on your location(s).