The onset of winter weather has resulted in a sharp increase in the number of injuries at Newman Regional Health.
And the weather isn’t getting any better.
The majority of the injuries can be blamed on the ice, according to Pam Kvas, director of the hospital’s emergency room.
“As the snow has melted with the sun out, we’ve seen a significant number of falls that have caused extremity injuries,” she said. “Broken wrists, broken ankles, broken legs.”
Kvas said the weather-related injuries in the past week have made up about 20 percent of patients the emergency room has seen.
“I think we’ve had about 25 injuries that were specifically related to the weather,” she said.
Fortunately, these falls haven’t resulted in an increase in head injuries.
“Not as much head injuries, mostly extremity injuries,” Kvas said. “But that could change with Tuesday’s ice.”
The National Weather Service is forecasting rain and snow tonight, turning to snow after midnight. There is a 20 percent chance of snow before noon tomorrow.