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DAYTON — Miami Valley Hospital’s emergency room has been busy treating injuries from people falling on the ice.
There were not as many traffic accidents because there were few motorists on the road, but there were people being treated for injuries from falling yesterday, said Nancy Thickel, manager of public relations for Miami Valley Hospital. The emergency room there was seeing “a fair number of fractures of arms, legs, wrists and throughout the day and yesterday evening,” she said.
To make sure the hospital is staffed properly, “we open up Snow Valley Inn,” she said. It is a unit in the hospital with about 15 beds where staff members can stay overnight. Staff members who live within a 20-mile radius of the hospital can also call and request a ride to and from the campus police who have four-wheel-drive vehicles, she said.
Children’s Medical Center, however, had not seen any children coming in with injuries specifically related to the ice storm since it began. They have also not had any problems with staffing during the storm, said Moira Alter, a spokeswoman for the hospital.
At Kettering Medical Center, Bob Jackson, manager of corporate communications, said their ER had not seen anything out of the norm, though, “We do have cases related to falls.”
“The staff has been working very hard to cover for each other” to make sure patient coverage is taken care of properly, he said. “It’s a good opportunity to remind people to be cautious of the snow and ice.”
Miami County had been under a Level 3 ice emergency since Tuesday, so people were not supposed to be out driving, which may account for the ER at the Upper Valley Medical Center in Troy not seeing an increase in activity attributed to the storm, said Gail Peterson, communications and marketing director for the UVMC. But, “looking at the cases over the last 24 hours, we have had some injuries from falls,” she said. “Staffing is at a minimum due to the Level 3,” she said, but the majority of essential personnel either made it in on their own or “were picked up by our security,” she said. “We are holding our own.”
The Miami County Sheriff since has declared a Level 2 emergency, easing some of the restrictions on travel as conditions improved.
Good Samaritan Hospital has seen a slight increase in injury falls in their ER during the storm, said Kathy Harper, hospital communications and marketing director. The staff had no problem taking care of the increased number, she said. During snow and ice emergencies they have a program for having their campus police use four-wheel drive vehicles to pick up staff members who need a ride in, she said. “Yesterday and today we have picked up a few employees,” she said. Like Miami Valley Hospital, Good Sam also has accommodations at the hospital for staff to stay overnight. They have a place to sleep and shower, clean scrub changes, and other needed things, she said. That has been used since Monday night, she said.
Greene Memorial Hospital in Xenia is a part of the Kettering Health Network, and those hospitals also provide accommodations for staff who need to stay overnight and/or work longer shifts, said Bob Jackson, manager of corporate communications. Transportation is also provided as needed, he said.
Greene Memorial Hospital has seen more people today with fall injuries, a general mixture, from hands to legs, than in the past several days, he said.
The health care community knows it needs to be prepared, he said. “It is real rewarding to see things come together ... though it may be exhausting for staff members.”
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2341 or kullmer@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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