Tulsa Emergency Rooms Overflowing With Fall Victims

By Jeffrey Smith, The News On 6

TULSA, OK -- Emergency rooms are seeing a lot of new patients who will feel the effects of the snowstorm for a while longer.

They are packed with people injured on slippery steps, driveways and parking lots.

At St. John's, nurses say they have seen a 20% increase this week in orthopedic injuries.

Officials say on Monday, some nurses treated two dozen patients just for slip and fall injuries.

Heather Lorenz, Emergency Department Manager, has seen plenty of broken bones the last few days.

Dozens of them, in fact, from people slipping and falling on the ice.  St. John Medical Center was so crowded Monday, they had to put some beds out in the hallway.

"It was 10 to 16 patients in our waiting room, and we usually try to keep it down to two to four. And we had 10 to 16,"Lorenz said.

Lorenz says the elderly are especially vulnerable because of the increased risk of broken bones.

83-year-old Leonard Whisenhunt slipped on the ice while shoveling his driveway.

"I went back to check something, and zoom. There I went. It was just too much ice, I couldn't stand up," Whisenhunt said.

Whisenhunt seriously injured his back. He says he had no clue how slick his driveway was.

"I crawled to the garage, I couldn't get up. Of course, the older you get, the harder it is to get up anyway. But when you're on ice, it's almost impossible," Whisenhunt said.

84-year-old Wilma Young broke her arm on her icy driveway over the weekend. She was trying to get the paper.

Nurses say many injuries happen days after the storm ends.

"This is kind of the trend. We don't see the increase in injuries happen until the thaw takes place and people get down to the ice," Lorenz said.

As for Whisenhunt, He knows one thing he won't be doing next winter.

"I'm not going to shovel ice! I know that," Whisenhunt said.

Thankfully, nurses say most of the slip and fall injuries didn't result in broken bones, just a lot of bruising and a lot of pain.