Fall accidents in winter cost 22 billion per year • More and more younger in emergency care
Maria Sundqvist in Mariefred had been and fished with a friend one Sunday in December and got home. After being released in a roundabout a short distance from home, she slipped on an ice spot.
– I tried to stand up, but it was not possible, the leg just folded, she says.
The friend had already been able to leave and Maria Sundqvist managed to call her husband who came to the rescue.
– I’m just saying right away: The leg is off.
Ended up in a wheelchair
Maria Sundqvist was taken by ambulance to hospital. There, the doctors found that one of the narrow legs was broken and that there was a crack in the calf. There were also several injuries in the ankle.
A few days later, it was time for surgery before Maria Sundqvist could go home. For several weeks she sat in a wheelchair.
– My husband had to help me with everything: shower, toilet, everything.
Costs 22 billion
According to a report from the State Road and Transport Research Institute, VTI, the fall accidents cost to snow and IS society SEK 22 billion each year. Investigator Jenny Eriksson has, among other things, been based on research on physical and mental suffering after traffic accidents, and looked at health care and administrative costs.
At the same time, it is found that state and municipalities only spend on average around half a billion SEK on slip control and snow removal.
– If municipalities are to save, the first thing they save is usually the winter operation budget, says Jenny Eriksson.
Not just older who slip
She believes that society has difficulty realizing how serious the consequences can be and the issue is therefore a priority.
– You may think that it is an older problem and then you push the problems in the future, but we see that even for women around 45-50 years, something is starting to happen in the statistics, says Jenny Eriksson.
Maria Sundqvist jumps today on crutches and now a long rehabilitation is waiting. It affects the family extra hard because she works full time as a personal assistant for her son, who has severe autism.
– We are in an extremely vulnerable situation otherwise, but if such things happen, then we do not have any backup or help to get around us.
She urges everyone to use stitches.
– This can happen to anyone, says Maria Sundqvist.