NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – UAMS said they are seeing a rise of cases as a result of last week’s winter weather. Not covid but more bumps and bruises from falls because of the ice.
“Most of the injuries are actually from older patients that have fractures, but we are seeing a multitude of injuries from last week,” Professor of Emergency Medicine at UAMS Randy Maddox said.
He mentioned many homes that face northward and don’t see as much sun on sidewalks and driveways will still have those icy patches.
He theorized many people see things are mostly cleared up and let their guard down or they are just trying to do normal things like taking out the trash or letting their pets outside.
“It can happen to anyone you just slip and fall especially when it’s ice, and it’s packed, it’s very difficult to walk on without the proper you know shoes,” Maddox said.
When winter weather threatens, ERs know they will still be busy but may see more bone, joint, and muscle injuries as a result of falling on ice.
“We’re ready for anything in emergency medicine, it’s hard to predict but we do say ‘yeah there will be an uptick in extremity injuries’.”Maddox said.
Another business seeing more activity after melting is car washes.
“Everyone’s wanting all that grody, grit, grime, that road salt off their car,” Shea Decker, who is the GM of Splash Car Wash in North Little Rock, said.
He said they love the ice, after the fact, and also rain and muddy conditions as dirty cars make for good business for them.
He said they began to see more folks showing up on Sunday, then Monday it was a lot busier than normal, and that continued into Tuesday.
“About 100 cars an hour right now so yeah we’re doing great,” Decker said.
Decker said they also clean the inside of cars too since much of that winter weather grit and grime usually makes it inside of cars too.
They have a full staff no matter the time but he did say after weather events like last week’s winter storm, he makes sure his staff is aware they will be churning through cars the next few days afterward.
“We do reach out and say hey it’s gonna be crazy everybody rest up because we’re getting after come open time,” Decker explained.