BATON ROUGE — People all over Louisiana took to their front yards, streets and even levees to snowboard, compete in a snowball fight or just walk around enjoying this week's winter weather and record snowfall.For some, that fun landed them in the emergency room where Our Lady of the Lake Regional Center's Steven Gremillion says the staff has been busy."Mostly what we have seen are orthopedic injuries related to falls and other issues that can occur in the snow: broken wrists, broken hips, broken legs, dislocations," Gremillion said.He says the hospital has not had any hypothermia cases so far, and he is urging people to not only protect themselves but also those who are more vulnerable, like older adults or those with chronic health problems."What we are worried about is our vulnerable population—those with heart disease, lung disease, and severe diabetes. Those are the people who need to stay inside and seek care if they feel like they're having a problem, as they are at greater risk for frostbite and hypothermia, so those individuals need to be careful," Gremillion said.He added that people should monitor for frostbite and hypothermia symptoms as well."Frostbite typically affects your hands, feet, ears, and nose. They can turn pale, blue, numb, or waxy—this is a sign to go inside. Hypothermia is more dangerous; that's when your whole body temperature begins to lower, so symptoms include shivering, confusion, and slowed breathing," Gremillion said.With temperatures remaining below freezing and some snow melting, surfaces can become covered in ice. Gremillion said he believes the emergency room may become even busier in the coming days as people slip on ice frozen from melted snow."I'm particularly worried about tonight. As the snow melts and turns into water, it will freeze tonight and turn into ice, and as people go out, especially tomorrow, I think we may see more injuries. I predict our emergency rooms will probably be busier on Thursday and Friday than in the last few days," Gremillion said.Permalink| Comments