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Overcrowded hospitals also dealing with injuries from ice
Slips and falls are common during the winter, but this year, it’s contributing to the overloading of hospitals.
MINNEAPOLIS — It’s that time of year again when you’ve got to watch your step.
HCMC in downtown Minneapolis is among the many facilities seeing their usual increase in slip-and-fall injuries, due to the snowy and icy winter conditions. Dr. Stephen Smith, an emergency physician with Hennepin Healthcare, said these patients have flooded into the Emergency Department for roughly the past month.
“Lots of fractures. Lots of wrist fractures, especially. Ankle fractures. People fall and hit their head,” Smith said. “Falls, in general, even without the ice, are one of the most common things we see.”
In fact, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 800,000 patients are hospitalized every year because of falls, often impacting older people. Falls are also the most common cause of traumatic brain injuries.
“And when ice season comes, it’s that much more likely to happen,” Smith said. “even among young healthy people.”
It’s certainly nothing new for emergency departments to see more people slipping and falling during the winter season.
However, this year, Smith said these injuries are adding to an already extreme workload, as hospitals across the country experience a crisis in capacity. As the pandemic and other seasonal illnesses continue to fill hospital beds, there are also widespread staffing shortages.
Just this week, a Hennepin Healthcare physician penned an Op-Ed in the Star Tribune, titled: “On health care front lines, we are not OK.”
“The entire country is overloaded with emergency medicine patients. Many acute care nurses quit the job during COVID. Hospitals can’t discharge patients to nursing homes because the nursing homes are full, the group homes are full, psychiatry inpatient is full, and the hospitals can’t discharge patients. We can’t get patients upstairs, so our ED is full of patients who need to be admitted,” Smith said. “And this is true for every department across the cities and the country. It’s a national problem.”
Smith said that HCMC has had to turn down some transfer patients from other hospitals – transfers they would normally accommodate, if not for capacity shortages.
“And now we have all these people slipping and falling,” Smith said, “and that just adds to the overcrowding.”
Smith offered a few suggestions to avoid falls: Outfit your shoes with traction cleats like Yaktrax, clear your walks and driveway, and add strength exercises to your routine to improve your balance.
Hennepin Healthcare also published this guide in December about how to “walk like a penguin” in icy conditions.
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Kowalski’s offers up these easy-to-make sauces to seriously elevate your holiday gathering.
GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. — As you get set for entertaining this holiday season, don’t let the season get spoiled by a subpar shrimp cocktail!
Kowalski’s Culinary & Branding Director Rachael Perron stopped by KARE 11 Saturday with these easy-to-make dipping sauces that make regular cocktail sauce seem tame by comparison.
Remoulade
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- 1 tbsp. sweet pickle relish
- 1 tbsp. finely chopped Italian parsley
- 1 tbsp. finely chopped shallot
- 1 tbsp. tomato paste
- 1 tbsp. Kowalski’s Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice (from the Produce Department)
- ½ tsp. Dijon mustard
- kosher salt and freshly ground Kowalski’s Black Peppercorns, to taste
- sweet paprika, to taste
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk together first 7 ingredients (through mustard).
- Season to taste with salt, pepper and paprika.
- Serve immediately or store in the refrigerator, covered, for up to 5 days.
Lemon Caper Dill Seafood Sauce
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- 2 tbsp finely chopped fresh dill
- 2 tbsp. roughly chopped capers
- 4 tsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2 tsp freshly grated lemon zest
- kosher salt and freshly ground Kowalski’s Black Peppercorns, to taste
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, dill, capers, juice and zest.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Serve immediately or store in the refrigerator, covered, for up to 5 days.
Lola’s Lakehouse on the shores of Lake Minnetonka in Waconia has opened their Jingle Bar with tasty seasonal cocktails.
WACONIA, Minn. — ‘Tis the season for festive celebrations, and Lola’s Lakehouse on the shores of Lake Minnetonka in Waconia has just the gift: their Jingle Bar with tasty seasonal cocktails.
The Jingle Bar is serving such creations as the rum-based Grinch Boot (a “mean one,” we’re told), the Stoli and citrus Santa Clausmopolitan, and a mint-and-coffee combo know as the Dirty Snowman.
General manager Ryan Sathre stopped by KARE 11 Saturday to demonstrate another of the featured drinks: the snowflake martini.
Snowflake Martini
- 2oz vanilla vodka,
- 1oz Disaronno velvet
- 1oz Trader Vic’s White Chocolate
Shaken and strained into coup glass. Top with whip cream and sprinkled with crushed candy canes.
Lola’s Lakehouse is located on East Lake Street in Waconia. The Jingle Bar will be open until the end of the year, with reservations available in the dining room and gift card specials. Find out more information on the Lola’s Lakehouse website.
The Minneapolis restaurant is celebrating the season with its first-ever Jingle Giles celebration.
MINNEAPOLIS — Earl Giles Restaurant and Distillery is getting in the Jingle Giles spirit for the holiday season.
The Minneapolis restaurant has transformed its space into a winter wonderland through the end of the year, complete with fully decked halls, a 16-foot Christmas tree, and thousands of lights.
Guests can look forward to festive pop-up events, themed seasonal cocktails and dishes, and live entertainment.
Executive Chef Matt Reisenger stopped by KARE 11 Saturday to share one of the feature items: Pickle Dip!
Pickle Dip
- 8 oz Philly cream cheese
- 1 Cup Sour cream
- 1 C Duke’s mayo
- 2 whole cloves fresh garlic
- 2 oz. fresh dill
- ½ Cup bacon fat
- 6 strips crispy bacon, chopped
- 2 green onions minced
- ½ jar dill pickles
- ½ C dill pickle liquid
- Salt to taste
- Bake the bacon until crispy in an oven @ 350º F. Reserve the fat.
- Microwave the cream cheese until softened and whisk with mayo and sour cream.
- Mince the garlic, chop the dill pickles, and add the pickle liquid all to the mix
- Add salt at your discretion!
- Garnish the dip with the chopped bacon and minced green onions.
- Serve with chips or crackers. Or your hands.
Earl Giles Restaurant and Distillery is located at 1325 Quincy St NE in Minneapolis. Visit their website for more information.
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