Lack of gear and experience leads to woman’s ice climbing fall and fracture.
Surgery was timely, but she won’t be able to walk for three months.
The woman traveled specially from Shenzhen to Mt. Siguniang during the New Year holiday to go ice climbing, but without experience and due to inadequate preparation, she slipped and collided with an ice wall, resulting in a partial comminuted fracture in her left leg, leaving her immobile... After being given preliminary treatment at the Sichuan Provincial Orthopedic Hospital, her condition improved. The director of the hospital’s Sports Trauma Prevention and Treatment Center told reporters that during holidays, the number of sports trauma patients increases by 30%, and advised citizens to choose moderate and appropriate forms of exercise.
Lack of gear and experience, woman slips during ice climbing
Xiaoting, 27, works in Shenzhen and is usually an outdoor sports enthusiast. Before the holiday, she had planned her itinerary. “I’d long heard that ice climbing is more interesting than regular rock climbing, and there was an ice climbing event in Mt. Siguniang, so I booked my flight,” Xiaoting told reporters. Since she had never done outdoor sports above 4,000 meters in altitude and had no experience with ice climbing, she arrived in Mt. Siguniang two days before the event.
At around 9 a.m. the previous morning, Xiaoting set off on the ice climbing route with simple cold-weather and mountaineering gear. “I was being very careful the whole way, and many veterans helped me, but I still lacked experience and didn’t have enough gear,” Xiaoting said. When she climbed up to a trapezoidal ice-rock formation, she slipped and her left leg hit the ice wall. “It was extremely painful at the time, and my leg wouldn’t move. It was also very cold, and later I have no idea how I got down the mountain.”
Fracture surgery was timely, but she won’t be able to walk for three months
Due to severe pain in her left leg, Xiaoting was rushed to the provincial orthopedic hospital that day for treatment. After examination, it was found that Xiaoting had a comminuted fracture in the lower section of her left tibia and fibula. The doctor immediately replaced her plaster cast, fixed it with a small splint, and recommended that she undergo surgery. Without timely treatment, Xiaoting’s left leg could have been permanently disabled.
“She’ll need three months before she can walk again after the surgery.” Considering the long hospitalization period after the operation, Xiaoting decided to return to Shenzhen for treatment under the accompaniment of a friend. Yesterday afternoon, lying down, Xiaoting took a special flight back to Shenzhen through a priority channel. “Now my left foot can only stay straight; even a slight bend causes intense pain.”
Holiday sports trauma patients up 30% compared to usual
“If you get injured accidentally while rock climbing or mountaineering, and if medical conditions are insufficient, people nearby should provide first aid to the injured promptly,” Luo Xiaobing, director of the Sports Trauma Prevention and Treatment Center at the Sichuan Provincial Orthopedic Hospital, told reporters. First is to preserve life and stop bleeding, then to protect the limb. “Use wrapping or pressing methods to stop bleeding. If a limb is injured, use branches or hard objects to immobilize it to avoid secondary injury.”
Luo Xiaobing said that during holidays, the number of sports trauma patients treated in the hospital’s emergency department increases by 30% compared to normal times. “Nowadays, many people, especially young people, are busy with work and have no time to exercise during regular days, but they love to go hiking or cycling during holidays.” Luo Xiaobing said that due to lack of exercise, consecutive days of excessive activity during the break can easily lead to injuries to the knee joints and ligaments. “Many people climb Qingcheng Mountain and come back with swollen knees, developing synovitis—the most common type of patient we see.” Luo Xiaobing advised that to relax the body during holidays, one should choose types of exercise appropriate to their own physical capabilities, and not blindly overdo it, as that can easily cause sports injuries. Reported by Liu Qin, Chengdu Evening News; photos by Li Xiangyun
Temperatures dropped sharply in the past two days
Hospital patient numbers up 30%–50%
Yesterday, reporters learned from the emergency departments of the Provincial Hospital, City First People’s Hospital, City Third People’s Hospital, City Children’s Hospital, and Chengdu Military Region General Hospital that due to the temperature drop in the past two days, many elderly people and children with weaker resistance suffered from colds or respiratory diseases, with patient numbers increasing by 30%–50% compared to normal.
Yesterday’s sharp temperature drop, along with sporadic rain and snow in the urban area, caused a sharp rise in outpatient numbers at the City Third People’s Hospital, with children and the elderly making up the majority. Dr. Li, a pediatric expert at the hospital, said that in the past two days, the number of pediatric patients has increased by more than 50% compared to normal, mostly suffering from complications such as upper respiratory tract infections, bronchitis, and tonsillitis caused by colds, as well as some infants and toddlers with persistent high fevers. Dr. Li said that if the low temperatures continue, more children will get sick, and parents must take their children to the hospital promptly. “If a child has a cold and fever, medicine isn’t needed if the temperature is below 37.8°C; if the temperature is between 37.8–39°C, give the child some anti-inflammatory and antipyretic medicine; once the temperature exceeds 39°C, the child must be sent to the hospital immediately.”
Cold air affects not only children but also the elderly, who have a poor ability to adapt to temperature changes, causing various health issues. Reporters learned from the City Third People’s Hospital emergency department that the number of elderly patients seeking treatment increased significantly due to the cold air. Xiang Tao, deputy director of the emergency department, said that some elderly patients have never undergone lung function monitoring, so when symptoms such as coughing and asthma appear, they often mistakenly treat them as “colds.”
Doctors remind that due to the large temperature difference between indoors and outdoors, the elderly and children should minimize outdoor activities, avoid crowded places as much as possible, wash hands frequently, drink plenty of water, keep warm, use air conditioning sparingly indoors, and eat light food.