The emergency services had their hands full on Friday morning due to slippery conditions. Many people fell while cycling and that led to quite a few broken bones. There was a constant coming and going of victims at the hospitals and phone calls were pouring into the control room.
It was busy in the emergency department of the Jeroen Bosch Hospital. At least nine people arrived early in the morning who had had an unfortunate fall due to the slippery conditions. According to a hospital spokeswoman, the injuries involved ankle fractures, a broken hip and a head wound. Around half past three she reported that the number of patients in Den Bosch had risen to 26.
“Most of them fell by bike,” she explains. “These are mainly people who have suffered a broken bone in the ankle, wrist or shoulder. A few have a head injury and a few people suffered a concussion.”
27 people with broken bones
One victim after another arrived at the Elisabeth-TweeSteden Hospital in Tilburg with a broken bone. “That concerns the emergency department and the plaster clinic,” says a hospital spokeswoman. In Tilburg, 27 people arrived on Friday after an accident due to slippery conditions. “We mainly saw ankle and wrist fractures.”
That many cyclists ended up in unfortunate situations is also the perception among the police. A spokeswoman speaks of ‘quite a few reports’ of fallen and injured cyclists. Calls also came in from skidding cars. The control room saw ‘relatively many incidents’ in which slippery conditions were the cause, according to a police spokeswoman.
At the Amphia Hospital in Breda, the number of victims due to frozen road sections was not too bad. “The emergency department is busy at the moment, but mainly because of sick people,” said a spokeswoman. “There are a number of people with fractures, but they were not caused by the slippery conditions.”