Emergency departments see more patients in winter for two main reasons: an increase in accidental injuries and a rise in infectious respiratory disease. Cold weather creates icy surfaces that lead to slips, trips and falls, while viruses such as influenza, COVID-19 and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) circulate more in the season.
Four years ago Arjun Venkatesh — professor and chair of emergency medicine at Yale School of Medicine and chief of emergency medicine at Yale New Haven Hospital — urged people in a local news interview to avoid walking on ice. He warned, "Just a thin layer of ice is all it takes to fall and break a bone." Despite that warning, two days after the interview he slipped at home on a frozen driveway late at night after a shift, did not remove the ice, fell, landed on his butt and slid the full length of the driveway.
His experience highlights the practical importance of seasonal safety advice. Simple precautions can reduce risk, and public reminders from clinicians aim to prevent needless emergency visits. Examples of basic precautions include:
- Avoid walking on ice when possible.
- Clear or treat frozen driveways and paths.
- Take extra care when returning from a night shift or in low light.
Difficult words
- emergency — situation needing immediate medical care
- infectious — able to spread disease between people
- respiratory — related to breathing or the lungs
- circulate — move or spread among people or places
- urged — strongly advise someone to do something
- precautions — action taken to reduce possible danger
- clinicians — health professional who treats patients
- needless — not necessary and that can be avoided
Tip: hover, focus or tap highlighted words in the article to see quick definitions while you read or listen.
Discussion questions
- Which of the listed precautions would be easiest to use in your area, and why? Give examples.
- What other public reminders could clinicians give to reduce winter emergency visits, besides the precautions in the article?
- Why might returning from a night shift increase the risk of accidents like slipping, based on the text?
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