Simple prevention for avoiding winter injuries

Salt Lake City, Utah — According to St. Mark’s Hospital officials, there are 25 percent more injured patients from motor vehicle crashes during the winter months, severely injured patients from falls on ice and snow, and up to 75 percent of skiers and snowboarders in the ER who weren’t wearing a helmet when they crashed.

“Trauma is the leading cause of death and people up to the age of 45,” said Brittni Clark, ER Trauma Nurse Coordinator at St. Marks. “My goal is to keep you safe. I don’t ever want to see anyone come through the ER with traumatic injuries, that’s not fun for anyone.”

Fortunately, there are ways to reduce these accidents.

“If you know a storm is coming make sure you get your snow shovel ready, your ice melt. And then once the snow falls, be sure to get that snow cleared as quickly as possible because once it gets compacted that’s when it’s hard to remove, it turns to ice really quickly,” said Ryan Love with the United Fire Authority.

The Unified Police Canyon and Metro officers advise people to make sure cars are “winter-ready” with good tires inflated properly and have jumper cables and a shovel to reduce the chance of being stranded in freezing conditions. Those taking a trip up the canyons for winter fun should be prepared in case the canyons close with extra food, water, warm clothing, and medications.

Emergency rooms in the hospitals are ready, but it’s best to prevent the need for using them during this winter.