I've done a couple of searches and not found anything so ...

The situation is this: I slipped on my bathroom floor and fell quite heavily, making a deep cut on my elbow in the process. It doesn't seem to want to stop bleeding and is in an awkward position for me to manage to apply pressure & elevate.

I think it would benefit from a stitch or two - to stop the bleeding for now and to prevent it opening up every time I bend my arm. However, it being the weekend and my German language skills being zero, I don't know where to take myself to get it dealt with.

Can anyone suggest where I'd find a minor injuries kind of place in Basel? Not a full blown ER since it's hardly life-threatening. On a weekday, I'd just call my doctor's office & take it from there but these things always happen outside of office hours

Assuming you have medical insurance and you can't contact your doctor then you go to the hospital.

When I call my doctor after hours, he gives the name and number of the doctor who is on duty. I live in a small town with 3 doctors and one of them is always available. I imagine that there is a doctor available near you as well.

Additionally, I haven't yet met a doctor who doesn't speak English.

Notfalldienst Ärzte, Zahnärzte, Apotheken
(Medical emergency service - Doctors, Dentists and Pharmacies)

In Basel you call:
061 261 15 15

They speak english and will be able to tell you where to go

Thank you. I just called and the emergency doc is going to come over & inspect the wound. He says he may send me off to hospital or just clean and stitch it himself . Knowing help is on it's way, I summoned up the courage to peel off the bload-soaked band aid and take a look (first aid 101 - do not remove a dressing from a still bleeding cut, oops). Yuk.

Right enough, I'm so accident prone, I should keep this number that you kindly provided for future reference. Thank you .

Glad to hear that it worked out!
Treat yourself to something nice when its all done

I've been to Notfall as Bruderholz and Liestal a few times, and I've seen more minor injuries than you describe.

It doesn't need to be life-threatening, and it wouldn't really be stretching the service. The longest I had to wait was half an hour, usually seen very quickly.

Okay, all done. Two stitches. I'd never had stitches before - it hurt because I chose not to have two injections for numbing the area when two stitches is only two needles anyway. So now I'll find out if my employer's accident insurance is as good as they claim!

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction, ACM. I promise to find out where the hosipital is so I can go directly to the ER next time

Glad to hear you're ok

In case you need to know in future, the main ER ("Notfall" in German) is at the Universitätspital although the other hospitals in this list also have ER departments:

http://www.unispital-basel.ch/index.php?sel=687&lang=0

Thanks for that. I know it's moronic but I had no idea where to even begin looking for a hospital. I'll go find this one on a tram so I'm not messing with maps & stuff if I ever need it.

It's really easy to find. It's just behind the police station at Schifflände on Petersgraben.

Hope you don't need it anytime soon though

Glad you're fine! Since the doctor decided a house-call was necessary, you were probably better off not going to the hospital by yourself, anyway.


regards,

Peter