FRACTURES AND OTHER INJURIES FROM FALLS AFTER AN ICE STORM

This is a retrospective review of all patients seen at an urban emerge ncy department for 9 days after an ice storm because of a fall an ice. Date of presentation, age, sex, and anatomic location and type of inj ury were tabulated. Risk factors for fractures were identified. A tota l of 327 injuries were identified in 259 patients. Back injury was mos t common (19.3%). Ninety one patients sustained 93 fractures. Ankle fr actures were most common (24.7%), followed by fractures of wrist (19.4 %) and hip (14.0%). Ankle fractures were more common than other studie s of falls after a snow storm. Fracture was significantly related to a ge (P = .0001). There was a trend for women to sustain fractures (P = .07), Unlike other mass casualty events, fractures and injuries peaked on the 5th and 6th day after the storm, allowing adequate time for mo bilizing resources to care for the injured. Copyright (C) 1998 by W.B. Saunders Company.