Regina emergency rooms see an increase of fall-related injuries

Since Tuesday’s freezing rain turned Regina’s roads and sidewalks into skating rinks, at least 149 people have landed in emergency rooms, mostly due to fall-related injuries.

“I’ve never seen it like this,” Surgical Care Service executive director Sandy Euteneier said. “We can kind of anticipate when we have a little bit of ice to have an increase, but not to the extent we’ve seen this year.”

Over the past few days, 25 elective orthopedic surgeries were postponed to make room for dozens of emergency orthopedic surgery patients.

This caused more operating room staff to be called in, with an extra team providing orthopedic surgeries.

“We have rules of what meets the guidelines to call in extra staff, and we actually threw those out the window so we could get the patients their care,” Euteneier said.

Regina resident Enola Severight has been couch-bound since the ice started, after injuring her knee slipping on ice.

“I can’t cook meals, I can’t do my dishes like I normally do every morning, it’s just embarrassing,” she said. “It’s terrible you can’t go outside without falling.”

Although the number of admitted patients waiting for beds in both the Pasqua Hospital and Regina General Hospital is still quite high, the total number of patients has mostly stabilized.

As of Friday at 12:15 p.m. the Regina General Hospital had 35 patients, eight of which were waiting for beds. While the Pasqua Hospital had 33 patients, 14 of which were waiting for beds.

Severight is frustrated at the amount of ice still on sidewalks throughout the city.

In a statement, Director of Roadways and Transportation Norman Kyle said the city is systematically working through the road network to address the current winter conditions.

Sanding trucks have continuously monitored category one, two, three and four roads, and applied sand and salt to the road network as needed. Crews are also applying sand and salt to sidewalks that we are responsible for throughout the city.

Crews have shifted their focus to category five roads (residential).

Severight is hoping her story is a cautionary tale for others and hopes no one else has to endure what she and many others have gone through this week.