More Snow is Leading to More Injuries this Winter
by Anne Kelly, KFYR-TV
Posted on 1/21/2009
Picture by KFYR-TV |
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The more snow we get, the more some kids are outside playing in it. Which has, in turn, led to an increase in the number of snow related injuries. When you`re a kid, snow piles are meant for climbing. Or burrowing through. But nurse practitioner Stacy Pfenning says kids who dig through mounds of snow and ice are just digging for trouble.
“If they`re in a snow tunnel and the snow collapses that`s a very scary thought because they could be suffocated and not be able to be found,” says Pfenning.
But while the idea of snow tunnels collapsing may be a scary thought, the emergency room at St. Alexius says it hasn`t seen any injuries related to burrowing through these huge piles. Instead it`s the downhill snow sports like sledding, skiing and snowboarding that are sending one young child and teen after another to the hospital. “We see usually a couple a day,” says Pfenning. “On the weekends when people are going to Huff Hills for ski days we see a lot of them, maybe 10 in a day.”
The main injury? Wrist and shoulder sprains and breaks. Beginning snowboarders are the primary victims. Pfenning says that`s because when they fall forward they catch themselves on their wrists. Pfenning says wearing wrist guards are the best way to go before hitting the slopes, especially if you`re a beginner.
“We`re also seeing leg fractures from skiing because the boots are not hooked on right so they don`t pop off like they`re supposed to,” she says.
Pfenning says sledders are just as common in the ER as skiiers and boarders. They`ve been running into trees and wiping out in record numbers this year.