A doctor is calling on the city to better manage icy sidewalks.
Between Dec. 5 and Dec. 20, emergency medical services responded to 124 slips and falls related to environmental conditions. That’s roughly eight per day.
According to Alberta Health Services, EMS respond to an average of five such calls on a typical winter day in Edmonton.
“We’ve actually seen some people with hemorrhages and bleeds in their brains from just falling on the ice and striking their heads,” said Dr. Darren Markland at the at the Royal Alexandra Hospital.
Markland has called on the city to better enforce its residential clearing rules, or pull its own weight when it comes to public walkways.
“We're a winter city. We need to take some responsibility for the fact that this is our climate.”
Homeowners are responsible for clearing their own walks. Those who don’t could receive a $100 fine.
The City of Edmonton also makes sand freely available via community sandboxes, but the weather has prompted reminders to the public.
Slippery sidewalks are dangerous for everyone, especially for people with limited mobility, the elderly, children and people who deliver services in our city. Please keep your walks clear of ice during this freeze/thaw cycle and use sand or salt to improve traction. #yegwalk pic.twitter.com/NQbyyZO2Gn
— City of Edmonton (@CityofEdmonton) December 19, 2018
However, Markland is concerned these types of injuries strain medical facilities: “That puts a significant burden on the hospital. You have an already crowded hospital and then you have preventable injuries which are further complicating the number of people who are in the hospital.”
“I don’t think walking should be a dangerous thing,” he said.
Concerns regarding ice can be made by calling 311.
With files from Timm Bruch
