The many skiers injured since the beginning of winter are putting a lot of pressure on hospital emergency rooms, a situation amplified by the busy school break.
“The equation of many people, many young people, many inexperienced people equals more injured people in the infirmary”, notes Dr Nicolas Bernard, emergency physician at the Enfant-Jésus hospital (CHUQ) and patroller at Mont -Saint Anne.
“We are sometimes completely overwhelmed, admits Dr. Michèle Lucey, head of the emergency department at the Brome-Missisquoi-Perkins hospital in Cowansville. Sometimes the ER fills up completely. »
Traffic has returned to pre-pandemic normal in Quebec ski resorts, with an average of regarding six million visitors per year.
Excessive speed, recklessness in the snow parks, inexperience: many athletes of all ages see their day take a turn towards the hospital. No one is safe, beginner as expert.
“Beginner skiers and snowboarders are more at risk than experts since they have a higher injury rate,” warns Claude Goulet, vice-dean at the Faculty of Education Sciences at Laval University and researcher emeritus in the injury prevention in sports. But expert skiers and snowboarders injure themselves more severely due to, among other things, speed. »
injuries
Although the majority of the injured are discharged from the hospital quickly, many sliders have to be treated for trauma or operated on for various fractures (see below).
Dr. Lucey is seeing more dangerous accidents in recent years.
“Speed does not forgive, we are not armored like in a vehicle […] In the jumps, some do not always have the experience. They follow the friends, but they are big drops of 10 to 12 feet [de haut] when they fall on ice,” she recalls.
In the small emergency of Cowansville (16 stretchers), the wounded flock every day during the winter. Some evenings, 10 or more patients come from the mountains of Bromont or Sutton.
“For patients, breaking their tibia-fibula is the accident of a lifetime, but sometimes we have two or three in the same day,” explains Dr. Simon-Pierre Landry, emergency physician at the Laurentian Hospital (Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts), which serves Mont Tremblant, in the Laurentians.
12,000 per year
Hospitals do not keep recent statistics on skiing and snowboarding injuries. At the Ministry of Sport, Recreation and the Outdoors of Quebec, it is estimated that there are approximately 12,000 injuries per year, a rate which has however fallen slightly since (see other text).
Since 2010, 23 deaths have occurred on the slopes of Quebec, according to the Bureau du coroner. Two more have been added since the beginning of 2023.
As for the Paraxion ambulance company, which serves the Mont-Tremblant region, half of the calls come from the mountains during winter weekends.
According to doctors, the accidents occur mainly at the end of the followingnoon or in the evening, because of the darkness and fatigue.
“The classic thing is between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. in the followingnoon, when the ambulances arrive from the ski slopes! emphasizes Dr. Landry. For us, it’s routine. »
Older people are also at greater risk of injury, since their muscles and ligaments are weaker.
No zero risk
Despite everything, emergency physicians encourage people to practice this sport, but to remain cautious by reducing speed and wearing a helmet.
“As in cars, there are accidents. But we’re not going to stop people from skiing, says Dr. Landry. It is a sport with a certain level of risk, but it is a very beautiful sport. Accidents happen, and we have to be able to reduce the risks as much as possible. »
A BALANCE SHEET THAT IS SLOWLY IMPROVING
The proportion of ski accidents on the slopes has been falling slightly in recent years, analyzes an expert in the field.
“From 2000 to 2018, we saw decreases in injury rates,” notes researcher Claude Goulet, from Laval University.
According to its data, Quebec went from 2.1 to 1.9 injured per “1000 ski days”, between 2001 and 2018.
The common denominator of “1000 ski days” is used to establish a representative rate. A “ski day” is equivalent to a visit to the mountains. For example, if there are 5,000 riders on the slopes in a single day, there would be 9.5 injuries, using the 2018 rate.
The decrease in injuries is more significant among snowboarders. The proportion went from 3.6 to 1.3 injured per “1000 ski days”, while alpine skiing remained stable at 1.5.
Note that men and 12-24 year olds are more at risk of injury, according to studies published in 2015 and 2019.
Hospitals near ski resorts in the red
Cowansville Hospital 194 %
Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts Hospital 144 %
Child Jesus Hospital (CHUQ) 125 %
Sacred Heart Hospital 96 %
*Emergency stretcher occupancy rate, March 3, 2022
Source : MSSS
A dangerous cocktail on the slopes
Alcohol or drugs can represent a dangerous cocktail for athletes who hurtle down the slopes while intoxicated, say experts.
Jean Cote
Patrol
canadian
ski
“It’s not uncommon to see people taking a seat in a chairlift with a beer in hand or for the smells of Saint-Jean to emanate from the chairs in front,” notes Jean Côté, director of communications for the Canadian Patrol. ski.
Prohibited consumption
For safety reasons, the consumption of alcohol or drugs is prohibited on the slopes, indicates on its site the Association of ski resorts of Quebec (ASSQ).
But the reality is quite different: several athletes present themselves intoxicated, note the patrollers and the doctors.
“We do not drive our car while being intoxicated, I do not see why we would go down a slope at 30 km / h intoxicated”, reacts Dr. Simon-Pierre Landry, emergency physician at the hospital of Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts.
The problem has existed for decades, but the legalization of cannabis brings its share of challenges for prevention. Despite the ban, there would be more in circulation. It would also be more common among young people, points out Mr. Côté.
Ticket revoked
No available statistics show that the substances cause more accidents, but doctors are unanimous: it is a dangerous mixture.
When caught intoxicated, offenders generally risk having their ticket revoked.
However, the Penal Code provides for various sanctions, which can go as far as a prison sentence if an intoxicated individual causes serious injury or the death of another user, indicates the ASSQ website.
The most common injuries
- Cranial and cervical trauma
- Concussion
- Column and vertebra fracture
- Clavicle fracture
- Wrist injuries
- Knee ligament tears
- Tibia-fibula fracture
The tragic fate of a ski enthusiast on the eve of a well-deserved retirement
Photo provided by the family
Richard Hétu passed away at the Val Saint-Côme station, in Lanaudière, on April 3, 2022.
A true ski enthusiast met a tragic end on the slopes last year when he hit a tree following a heart attack.
At the end of the line, a bereaved woman recounts the last moments of her lover, Richard Hétu, 53, who left too soon, giving himself fully to his passion.
“Richard, he loved to laugh and make people laugh. He liked to be surrounded by his friends, ”breathed his lover Annie Gauthier during a touching interview on the circumstances of his death.
“Skiing was his passion. He was tripping. When he retired, he wanted to stay in his cabin, be with his two children and live peacefully without the stress of work. I saw him happy in his head and I heard him see his luck, ”she continues.
The chalet he had built in the countryside gave him a feeling of freedom. And hitting the slopes gave him a feeling of absolute happiness.
But life decided otherwise.
On the morning of April 3, as he was descending the mountain of Val Saint-Côme along the edge of the track, the 53-year-old man allegedly suffered from a heart attack. He would have fallen, before hitting a tree. His head and neck stuck, he found himself in cardio-respiratory arrest.
At the infirmary
Despite their maneuvers, the rescuers were unable to resuscitate him. They found him dead in the infirmary, at the foot of the slopes.
“I was able to have a moment with him in the ‘cabin’,” says Ms. Gauthier with determination. I saw him with a smile, his face serene. This image allows me to go through the mourning a little better, because I know that he left happy. »
“But it’s sad because he mightn’t enjoy everything he had planned following a stressful working life and demanding work on the body. »
The coroner concluded in his inquest that he died of positional asphyxia following his skiing accident, which may have been caused by a heart attack.
Equipment missing
To make matters worse, Mr. Hétu’s family never found his equipment.
Despite intensive searches, the family never recovered the helmet, goggles and boots. The woman struggles to explain how this equipment might have disappeared, she who might only recover the watch of the deceased. The loss is all the greater as his son would have liked to keep the boots, in memory of his father.
The family filed a complaint with the Québec Ombudsman, who however found no error by the public authorities.