Snow and ice put emergency services under extra pressure

The Emergency Departments of Galway’s hospitals are bracing themselves for a further upsurge in admissions for broken and fractured bones due to falls on snow and ice over the coming days, as the sub-zero cold spell looks set to continue well into the New Year.

In the past week, the Accident and Emergency Departments at UHG in the city and Portiuncula, Ballinasloe have seen a rapid surge in the numbers of people admitted with fractures and dislocations sustained in falls due to the slippery underfoot conditions.

A spokesperson for HSE West said UHG has been inundated with people who have broken ankles, hips and wrists. The Emergency Department was twice as busy as Christmas last year and dealt with more than 120 fractures – three times as many as last year – which were mostly caused due to slips and trips.

“Typically around 40 people are admitted over the Christmas period with fractures and this year it was three times that number,” the spokesperson said.

And with the freezing temperatures set to remain, hospital staff are bracing themselves for even more orthopaedic admissions in the coming days.

The cold spell will continue well into the New Year with Met Éireann forecasting temperatures of minus four degrees or below at night-time on New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day and over the weekend.

Met Éireann’s five-day forecast is predicting freezing temperatures up until the middle of next week with widespread hard frost, freezing fog and icy conditions expected with the risk of hail, sleet and snow showers throughout the West. North-easterly winds and polar airs will sweep in over the country at the weekend making it bitterly cold.

Meanwhile, there have been several reports of minor road accidents throughout Galway in the past week due to the hazardous driving conditions and Gardaí, Galway County Council, AA Roadwatch and the National Roads Authority have renewed their warning to drivers not to travel if at all possible on some of the more treacherous minor and county roads.

The authorities have also advised motorists not to make unnecessary journeys. If travel is necessary, motorists have been asked to slow down, exercise extreme caution and leave plenty of room between your car and the car in front.

The County Council has also asked householders to turn off their taps due to water shortages throughout the county this week. The Mid-Galway Regional water supply, Ballinalsoe water supply and other smaller water supplies in Connemara and Killimor experienced a large drop in water pressure while the pumps at Abbeyknockmoy water station were in danger of overheating.

The Council said there has been a rapid surge in consumption of water and this could be due to burst pipes and people leaving taps running day and night to avoid pipes freezing over – pressure cannot build in the mains as a result and many homes were left without water.

County Council workers have been on stand-by and remain on-call right through the holiday period gritting and salting the county’s main routes and some important regional routes. The crews have been using up to 200 tonnes of salt mixed with grit per night, every night on the roads since the severe freezing temperatures arrived and the gritting will continue well into next week.

Director of Services for the County Council, Frank Gilmore said cutbacks are not affecting its grit and salt regime. “We are doing the full range of gritting right across the county and we are not restricted by funding,” he said.

However, due to the severity and length of the freezing conditions, which began the weekend before Christmas, there is a shortage of salt at the City Council to salt the roads throughout the city. Its stock of salt was depleted just before Christmas although the City Council’s roads crews have been continuing to grit the main routes and in the city centre early every morning and in the evenings.

Director of Services Ciarán Hayes said the gritting would continue as long as is necessary, right up until the first week of January, including on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Another stock of salt has been ordered for the city and is expected to arrive in the coming week.

Many footpaths in the city will remain hazardous however as the Council does not have the resources to grit the hundreds of miles of footpaths in the city.

Age Action Ireland, a charity for older people, has urged the general public to check in on older relatives, friends and neighbours and has asked older people to take steps to make sure they remain warm in their homes.