The key to using Edmonton's icy sidewalks safely? A 'penguin' shuffle, says AHS

Freezing rain in Edmonton has wreaked havoc on the city's roadways, sidewalks and pathways, leading to hundreds of calls for slips and falls this past week to Alberta Health Services.

According to a spokesperson for AHS, roughly 280 incidents were reported in the Edmonton Zone, including 57 over the weekend and nine Monday morning.

“This is significantly higher than the average for this time of year,” Kristi Bland said.

EMS averaged about 158 calls for slips and falls for the four weeks prior, between Nov. 6 and Dec. 3, Bland told CTV News Edmonton.

In a post on Twitter, Coun. Andrew Knack said crews should have been out applying calcium chloride before the freezing rain to help prevent the buildup of ice.

“That clearly didn’t happen and I know that is being addressed going forward,” he wrote.

“By not taking this step, we are stuck in the current situation of completely unsafe active pathways.”

Active Pathways Ice Update

I was able to get some more information about the current plan to address icy active pathways over the coming days and what should normally happen when freezing rain is in the forecast. #yeg #yegwalk #yegbike #yegcc #yegwinter #yegtransit

— Andrew Knack (@AndrewKnack) December 11, 2021

Philip Herritt, City of Edmonton director of infrastructure operations, parks, and road, said to CTV News that the calcium chloride was applied to bike lanes before the first rain event and then again afterwards.

"A priority system is used to identify the order of snow and ice control work following a weather event," Herritt said in a statement.

While used on bike lanes and in a solid form at bus stop locations, calcium chloride is not used on sidewalks.

"All available staff were out applying solid de-icer on all types of active pathways," he added. "Hand tools were being used to break up the ice once the de-icer had softened the areas."

According to the city, all of the bike lanes, city facilities, bridges, and overpasses were clear of ice as of Monday. Sixty-seven per cent of bus stops and 81 per cent of active pathways were free of ice. 

Following the uptick of incidents, AHS has a few tips for Edmontonians to avoid injury:

• Bend slightly and walk flat footed
• Point feet out slightly like a penguin
• Keep your centre of gravity over your feet
• Watch where you’re stepping
• Take shorter, shuffle-like steps
• Keep arms down and out of pockets