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Icy Sidewalks Help Fill Emergency Rooms
The return of freezing temperatures has made roads and sidewalks very slippery and created extra work for hospital emergency rooms.
ETV reported that by 17:00 in Tartu, 49 people had already turned to emergency rooms for aid - the same number who usually visit in a 24-hour period. Two of those required hospitalization, one of the two with injuries to the vertebrae.
The feared heavy increase in emergency room visits did not materialize in Tallinn and the North Estonia Medical Centre emergency room saw only 10 percent more people than usual, though the majority of the visits were reportedly due to slippery conditions.
The city of Tallinn's municipal services office offered a reminder that keeping sidewalks free of ice and snow is the responsibility of the adjacent home or property owner.