Sledding conditions have been a little different this winter season, with a thick layer of ice coating mounds of snow in the D.C. region. One hospital is reporting some serious head injuries as a result.
“We’ve unfortunately seen an uptick in accidents from sledding,” said Dr. Leticia Ryan, division chief of pediatric emergency medicine at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center.
She said they’re not only seeing more of these accidents, they’re seeing ones that are extremely serious.
“We’re seeing several a day that are quite serious, resulting in hospitalization, and in some cases, hospitalization in our pediatric intensive care unit,” she said.
The ice on top of snow makes for slippery sledding that might be more dangerous than it seems.
“You can really reach very high speeds. It can be very difficult to control, as well as difficult to stop,” she said.
Ryan said it’s important that you pay attention to where your children are sledding.
“It’s so critical to stay away from obstacles in the path, or not sledding on hills that do have obstacles in the path, such as trees or rocks, because collision with those at high speed can result in very severe injuries,” Ryan said.
She recommended having them wear a helmet or knee pads like they do when riding a bike or roller-blading.
“Wearing a helmet while sledding is another opportunity to improve safety of what is often a very fun time outside,” she said.
While kids may think it’ll make them lose “cool points,” Ryan said there are ways to make the safety equipment fun.
“It’s fun for kids to pick out their own helmets, getting a fun color, putting stickers on it. Those types of things can also be helpful in making it fun and part of the routine when you enjoy some of these activities,” she said.
She said the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children under 12 be supervised when sledding.
“If your children are older and going out in groups, I think keeping the lines of communication open, knowing where they’re going, having a sense of the area … any proximity to roads — all of those things should be on your mind as you’re hearing where your child plans to go sledding,” she said.