Thursday, 4:30 PM
Injuries lead to legislation
By Michael Levenson, Globe Staff
There was the woman who went flying 8 feet into the air on an inner tube and crash-landed in a frozen marsh; the dad who slipped and bruised his ribs while shoveling, then burned himself after he fell asleep on a heating pad; and the elderly man on blood-thinning medication who bled profusely after slipping on the ice and cutting his head.
Across the region, young and old have been streaming into emergency rooms with broken wrists, fractured legs, cracked ribs, crushed fingers, concussions, sore backs, and bleeding heads since last week’s ice storm turned the region into a rock-hard, slick obstacle course. Formerly gentle slopes for sledding are creating speeds that approach those of luge runs. Sledders who crash are finding out the hard way that ice is unforgiving. And pedestrians on sidewalks are not faring much better.
Boston Medical Center has treated about 40 people who broke bones and bruised bodies on the ice in the last week. Massachusetts General Hospital and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center have treated about 30 people each day who have fallen on the ice, and Newton-Wellesley Hospital has treated another 20 to 30 people a day since last Wednesday’s storm. Officials say the numbers are twice as high as during a normal winter week.
The deluge of injuries is spurring a push for legislation to make children wear helmets while skiing or sledding, modeled after a similar law requiring protective headgear for young bicyclists, inline skaters, and skateboarders.
Senator Steven C. Panagiotakos said it is not enough to be careful, and will push for a law this year requiring children under 13 who ski or sled to wear helmets. A similar bill died last year in committee. "Most kids ride bikes, so almost every kid has a bicycle helmet and they could use that for sledding, too," Panagiotakos said. "It’s not like it’s an extra cost to the family."
April Simpson of the Globe Staff contributed to this report. Levenson can be reached at mlevenson@globe.com.
