How to Survive Slips and Falls This Winter

During all the years that I worked in restaurants, I developed a pretty good sense of balance. I also did Tai Chi and that helped a lot. The floor in a restaurant gets really slippery with all the grease and everything. Sometimes an employee would spill a whole gallon of shortening on the floor when filtering the fryers. Then it was definitely "slip sliding away."

When I was at Wendy's, the late founder, Dave Thomas would have someone spray a sticky substance on the floor so he wouldn't slip when he walked on it. But I stayed pretty immune from falling, with one exception.

One time I slipped and fell when I was pouring a pot of hot chili. I got out of my clothes in record time, with only a reddening of the skin on my legs. I did have a crew member ask though: "Why is the store manager sitting in the back room with just his underwear on?"

Now that I've gotten older, it seems like it's getting easier and easier to fall. Here in St. Louis, we recently had a mini-ice storm. The sidewalk outside my house was coated with a very thin layer of ice.

You could hardly see it. I slipped and fell and then had trouble getting back up. I felt like that lady in the ad: "I've fallen and I can't get up." I ended up crawling on the ice over to my back porch where I could get something to hold onto.

Over the years, I've learned to take a fall without doing myself very much damage. Try to either fall on your butt or your arm. It's better to land where there is more padding or break your arm instead of your leg. Here are a few tips from an emergency room physician that may help you prevent and survive falls this winter.

According to the St. Louis Post Dispatch:

"There are ways to prevent slipping on ice. And if you do fall, you may not necessarily need treatment. Dr. Martin Docherty, an emergency department physician at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, and Dr. Timothy Oldani, a podiatrist at DePaul Health Center, offer tips on surviving icy weather intact."

You should seek out medical attention if you fall and bang your head on the ground, especially if you lose consciousness. If you hurt your ankle or leg and unable to stand up on it, you should go to the doctor. You should definitely seek medical attention if you are on blood thinners, as you may be bleeding internally and not realize it.

How do you prevent falls? Try not to wear shoes that don't give your feet any support. This includes most shoes that are made to be worn in the summer. Make sure that your soles have a non-slip tread. Buy shoes that have non-slip tread if you can. You can also purchase those steel grippers that go on your shoes to get extra traction on ice.

I like to use a walking stick for balance and I try not to walk on ice that has melted and been refrozen, because that is extra slippery, as I recently found out.

Source: http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/article_cb33696a-3e5c-5828-b208-0204c3f47f1e.html