Due to slippery streets, 118 people sought outpatient assistance at the Traumatology and Orthopaedics Hospital in Riga on Saturday, after which they went home, but 25 seriously injured people require surgery. The number of injured people on Saturday was significantly higher than usual, Latvian Radio reported from the hospital.
The most common injuries were broken forearms and ankle fractures, while older people suffered hip injuries.
The hospital’s chief physician, Andris Džeriņš, said that patients in two age groups suffered the most injuries.
“There are two peaks in terms of patients – one of them is older people over the age of 65, who already have a higher risk of falls and injuries due to balance problems, muscle weakness, visual impairments, and osteoporosis, which causes brittle bones, and they suffer fractures more often,” explained Džeriņš. “The other group is patients under the age of 40, who are more at risk. When moving around in this slippery weather, they are careless, for example, using smart devices, phones, not watching what is happening on the road. There was a case at night when a patient used a bicycle as a means of transportation and suffered a shoulder injury.”
The hospital urges residents to be very careful during slippery weather. Older people are advised to stay at home and ask relatives and friends to deliver groceries to them.
On Sunday, too, a large number of people sought help at the hospital.
Select text and press Ctrl+Enter to send a suggested correction to the editor
Select text and press Report a mistake to send a suggested correction to the editor
Tell us about a mistake