5 February 2009

Have fun but be careful if you are sledging in today’s snow, says Buckinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service. The organisation has been called out three times this week to help paramedics at the scene of sledge-related incidents. Two of them involved people with suspected broken legs.

The warning comes in the wake of the tragic death of a 16-year-old girl in Rotherham on Tuesday, and a serious injury suffered by a Milton Keynes student in Austria nearly three weeks ago.

Firefighters helped paramedics rescue an injured man and woman in separate incidents on slopes in and around Wendover on Monday afternoon.

A woman walking in woods in Beaconsfield also had to be rescued by firefighters and paramedics at about the same time after she slipped on an area of compacted snow and ice where people had been sledging.

Terry Ridgley, Buckinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service’s community safety manager, said: “Please be careful when you’re out having fun in the snow, and stay away from anything hard or sharp if you are sledging.”

He is backing the following safety tips from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents:

• Choose a safe place to sledge, ideally with deep snow and no obstructions such as trees or fences
  
  
• Avoid sledging near roads and pavements or near water, whether it is frozen or not
  
  
• Make sure you have plenty of room at the end of the run to slow down and stop
  
  
• Check the slope for hazards from the bottom upwards before you first sledge down
  
  
• Wear warm clothes and gloves and think about protecting your head with a cycle, skateboard or skiing helmet
  
  
• Consider other people who are on the slope when you are on your run down
  
  
• When improvising or making a sledge, think about “what if?”, including issues such as sharp edges and possible collisions
  
  
• Avoid sledging head first and when it’s dark