'The Ice Is Just Not Something To Mess Around With': EMSA Responds To Dozens Of Slips And Falls From Icy Surfaces

It’s that time of year where you have to watch your step.

“I’m surprised I haven’t fallen yet, but don’t jinx me because I don’t want to,” laughed Thomas Pringle. 

Sunday night’s freezing rain resulted in icy surfaces Monday. 

“Our whole front porch is pretty much iced over, the steps are iced over,” Kassidy Smith said. 

“Ice is always a different animal for us,” said Adam Paluka with The Emergency Medical Services Authority, or EMSA. He says they’ve responded to nearly 87 slips and falls and of those, 61 people have gone to the hospital.

“What that means is that people aren’t just slipping and falling, people are breaking bones when they’re falling, people are having some pretty serious head injuries….the ice is just not something to mess around with,” he said. 

On slick surfaces like this, Paluka recommends almost waddling like a penguin, which means walking with your hands by your side and taking very small steps.

"That’s going to give you the most balance, that's going to help get you where you need to go, because taking long strides or walking quickly, that is not what you’re going to want to be doing with this ice,” he said. 

He says most of the falls happen within 20 feet of a person’s front door.

“A lot of people get in a hurry and think that is not slick, then can’t catch themselves in time,” said Calisse Papen. 

Paluka says this morning’s number of slips and falls is close to four times what EMSA would expect to see on a Monday in January.

“If you are not wearing the proper footwear, if you are not taking it slow, being very methodical about every single step you take, all it takes is one false move, and you are in a world of hurt,” he said. 

“This is Oklahoma…used to it,” said Smith.