(12/8/98)

Physicians and E.R. doctors are again warning Utahns to be careful with snowblowers, snowmobiles and sleigh riding. Even though the season is just getting underway, doctors have already treated a number of accident victims. News Specialist Ed Yeates explains.

You wouldn't think you could get in trouble with a shovel, but doctors expect to see a lot of back strain and cardiac problems this winter brought on by shovelling heavy snow. And that's not all!

Willy Picket lost some fingers last week while trying to clear a clogged snowblower at his home.

Ice jammed the auger and he thought he could clear it without getting his hand caught. "And I pushed my hand down into there to push it down, and when I put my hand in there, that's where it caught it. I lost this finger probably right down to there. This finger and this finger - the doc believes he could save them. He put the fingernails back on," Picket says.

Doctors at Davis Hospital did a good job putting Willy's hand back together. But they'd rather not deal with these accidents at all.

And it's not just snowblowers. Doctors at Primary Children's Hospital also caution parents about kids on sleighs and tubes.

Children should not sleigh in areas where the bottom of the hill fronts a road. And don't sleigh or tube on hills peppered with big objects.

Dr. Howard Kadish of Primary Children's Medical Center suggests, "Really explore the area where children are going to go sledding. Make sure there are no trees or big metal objects because that's usually where the serious injuries come from."

Other warnings! Snowmobilers should never travel alone. Even in group rides, they should stay away from backcountry areas prone to slides or avalanches. And pediatricians worry about children on these machines. "And I think as snowmobiles become more accessible to everyone, children younger and younger are riding these machines. And I think they're extremely powerful and sometimes too powerful for younger children."