WACO, Texas — From head injuries to broken bones, Central Texas emergency rooms are busy treating patients with injury from this week's ice storm.
Emergency room staff members tell 25 News while the weather is keeping some people away, they're seeing is more severe emergencies than usual.
"I worked last night and had some broken arms, twisted up ankles, a lot of back injuries from people falling and trying to lift things. We've seen head injuries, that's a really common one," said Dr. Jason Bryant, medical director at Premier ER in Waco.
The storm isn't keeping staff from coming to work. Emergency rooms, like the one at Ascension Providence, report almost a full staff.
"A lot of people have made fairly decent trips to make sure that they're in here and keep people taken care of," said Dr. Jonathan Walker, medical director of the emergency department at Ascension Providence.
The storm also presents unique challenges for some patients, as some struggle to get their medications or are facing canceled medical appointments.
"I had a patient who had her appointment canceled today, and she didn't think she could wait so she came to the emergency department," said Dr. Vince Freemyer of Express ER in Harker Heights. "We see a lot of that kind of stuff, things you don't think about."
From Waco to Harker Heights, emergency rooms report that wait times are not being affected much by the storm.
They do, however, anticipate a surge of patients coming in once roads clear up.
Until then, teams are hunkered down inside hospitals, prepared for whatever is to come.
"These kinds of days, you just do what you have to do to get here and folks are here, and if you have to stay late, you stay late," Bryant said.
