Winter weather keeps road crews, medical centers busy
COLUMBUS, Ohio — It's been a busy few days for ODOT, with Central Ohio's first snowfall on the books. "A lot of people say the first is the worst."
ODOT crews are already thinking ahead to the next round of snow and ice. "Today the crews are cleaning the trucks up. Dumping out the excess material from their trucks and getting those cleaned up," says Highway Management Administrator Shawn Rostorfer.
Over at Grant Medical Center, the trauma room has been just as busy the last few days. "It happens every year. First snowfall, people are out. They still have their summer behaviors so there's just an increased number of crashes and crashes at summer speeds," says Trauma Medical Director Dr. Shay O'Mara. He says that every year around this time, the hospital starts seeing more injuries from crashes and falls related to winter weather. "Fractures, fractures, fractures. Hip fractures, femur fractures, rib fractures."
Whether you're driving the highway or pounding the pavement these next few days, both crews want to remind people that it's time to slow down for the season. "Go slowly. Walk carefully, and don't drink before you get in that car," adds O'Mara. "Give yourself a little space between you and that car in front of you. Allow some extra time to get to that location that you're trying to get to," says Rostorfer.
