Hundreds of people have been admitted to hospital emergency departments with bruises and fractures. Despite earlier warnings about freezing rain, not everywhere were transport routes secured well enough to ensure safety.
Icy sidewalks and roads that were not treated with salt, sand, or special chemical agents have posed a threat to pedestrians and drivers since the morning hours. An almost invisible layer of ice has caused paralysis in many Polish cities.
Dr. Katarzyna Mikołajczyk-Chudzińska, MD, head of the Emergency Department at the Józef Struś Multidisciplinary Municipal Hospital in Poznań, reported that between 6:00 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. around 100 patients with injuries were admitted. A similar situation was reported at the ER of the clinical hospital in the capital of Greater Poland, where approximately 120 people sought treatment.
The injuries most often affect the limbs, but also the head and spine. In many cases these are minor bruises; however, there have also been instances of serious bone fractures.
A similar situation has unfolded in Toruń, where the municipal hospital’s trauma and orthopedic ward has had to add extra beds, with the number of injured patients continuing to rise. “Some of the people who are just arriving will spend the entire night here. We have reinforced staffing, but it is impossible to handle such a large influx immediately,” said Sylwester Kleczka, a local physician and head of the ER.
Conditions are nearly identical in Gdańsk, where patients at the emergency department must wait at least several hours.
The cause is falls on slippery sidewalks. The forecast black ice and freezing rain did not prompt greater mobilization by municipal services or by institutions responsible for managing residential areas. Residents are urging particular caution for elderly people, advising them to stay at home, and are appealing for mutual assistance.