Icy streets lead to 1,000 calls to city, dozens of injuries over weekend

Freezing rain in Edmonton on Friday led to more than 1,000 calls to 311 this weekend to report icy streets, alleys and sidewalks, the city says.

Sam Rajah was one of those callers. His southwest neighbourhood of Twin Brooks is treacherous. He took more than a few spills on the ice and wound up in hospital on Monday. 

"I slipped and fell four times on my left knee. I'm in severe pain on my left knee," Rajah said. "That area is solid ice. It's very, very icy and very slippery. Very thick, very solid ice."

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He says he's put salt down, but he's frustrated at how slow the city has been to address the ice that's making it almost impossible for him to walk around his neighbourhood safely. He said he was told the city would come sand and salt his neighbourhood at the end of this month, or next month.

"I told them if someone falls and cracks their leg or neck or something, it's too late."

'These injuries can be quite serious'

Two-thirds of the calls to 311 this weekend came from areas south of the river, said Janet Tecklenborg, the city's director of infrastructure operations. 

On Sunday, 120 staff and 70 vehicles were out salting and sanding the roads. Residential roads are expected to be completed by Tuesday morning, but back alleys are done on an as-needed basis, she said.

If your street remains icy after Tuesday, she recommended putting in another call to 311.

Alberta Health Services says EMS had a busy weekend treating people who had fallen on the ice. On Thursday, it received five calls. On Friday, that jumped to 21. Over the weekend, it received six calls.

Freezing rain can result in "especially bad" conditions, said AHS public education officer Alex Campbell.

"These injuries can be quite serious. We get a lot of broken bones, a lot of soft tissue injuries such as lacerations, people might even have a head injury," he said. 

"When we go to these icy condition-related falls, they're actually a lot younger demographic. Generally adults, but we're seeing a lot of adults in their 20s and 30s that are slipping and falling on ice and sustaining fairly major injuries."

Dealing with icy conditions is everyone's responsibility, Campbell said.

This means putting down sand or ice melt on sidewalks in front of your home, he said. Until the ice melts, cleats on boots can be helpful in getting a little extra traction. AHS even stocks them in ambulances for paramedics to wear in the winter.

To stay upright, Campbell suggests walking like a penguin.

"That means bending slightly and walking flat-footed, keeping your feet pointed out like a penguin and try to shuffle along," he said.

"Keep your arms at your sides instead of in your pockets and just really go slowly."