In the News
Metro hospitals flooded with patients victim to slippery sidewalks
Dr. Andrew Laudenbach says there are different injuries but only one cause. “The main thing we are seeing a lot of today is slip and fall on ice and broken bones, dislocation, sprains, bruises, head injuries, back pain,” he said.
Internet chipping in to help homeless man who risked it all for his dog
Mitchell is currently battling a case of frostbite so severe, he’s in the burn unit at Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC).
Man shares story of his frostbite hospitalization after staying in the cold with his dog
At least 18 people have been admitted to Hennepin Healthcare for frostbite, one of whom said he’s lucky to be alive.
Jay Mitchell wanted to share his story to let others know about the dangers of the bitter cold weather, but his story also illuminates a touching story about the bond between a man and his dog.
Man being treated for frostbite warns of cold weather dangers
One man is being treated for frostbite on his feet at Hennepin Healthcare in Minneapolis Friday night. Jay Mitchell was sleeping when he started to notice frostbite on both of his feet.
ChangeMakers: Farji Shaheer wants to treat violence “like a cancer”
Farji Shaheer, 39, is program manager and director of the Next Step program at HCMC and North Memorial Hospital.
Cold extracts human toll: more than 2 dozen dead in 8 states
Hennepin Healthcare in Minneapolis normally sees around 30 frostbite patients in an entire winter. It treated 28 in the past week, spokeswoman Christine Hill said Friday.
“I definitely saw more frostbite than I’ve ever seen in my entire career just in the last three days,” said Dr. Andrea Rowland-Fischer, an emergency department physician at Hennepin Healthcare.
Frostbitten man risks life to save dog
Hennepin County Medical Center says it admitted 30 people for frostbite since January 1.
Jay Mitchell is one of those patients. Friday, he greeted people in his room in the burn unit, with his feet wrapped up in bandages.
U of M, Hennepin Healthcare study gives hope to those told they would never walk again
“That’s the lead, where it contacts the spinal cord,” explained Dr. Uzma Samadani, Associate Professor in the Department of Neurosurgery University of Minnesota Medical School and Neurosurgeon with Hennepin Healthcare.
Samadani described how surgically implanted electrodes along the spinal cord are connected to a battery pack. Software stimulates the nerves that go down to muscles in the legs. So far, six out of seven spinal cord injury patients that doctors have operated on have seen movement.
“It was pure survival”: One man fights despair, frostbite in the polar vortex
“He’s all I have left in the world,” Mitchell said from his hospital bed in the burn unit at HCMC. “All my other family is in the ground.”
HCMC uses flesh-saving drug to fight frostbite
Doctors at the burn unit at Hennepin County Medical Center are using a flesh-saving drug to fight frostbite. It’s called TPA and it works as a tissue plasma activator.
It breaks down the clot to reopen blood vessels and helps restore blood flow to the tissue, said Dr. Ryan Fey, the director of the burn unit at HCMC.
Caught in extreme cold, Minnesota grinds to a halt
Dr. Andie Rowland-Fisher, an emergency physician at HCMC, said the first sign of frostbite is pain in exposed areas, followed by numbness or tingling — then eventually no feeling at all. It can set in within minutes in the temperatures expected Wednesday, she said.
Deep freeze still on, but signs of life emerging
Cases of frostbite are popping up in the Twin Cities. HCMC spokeswoman Christine Hill said there have seen many patients for hypothermia, frost nip and frostbite. Its burn center has admitted 11 patients for frostbite, and another eight have been treated on an outpatient basis, Hill said.
Carbon monoxide poisoning concerns as temperatures near record lows
“I think the big thing to know about carbon monoxide is it can happen with any kind of combustion, so if you’re trying to burn something you could have a problem,” said Dr. Thomas Masters of Emergency and Hyperbaric Medicine at Hennepin Healthcare.
Take it from an ER doc: “Don’t challenge nature”
“When it gets this cold, nobody should be outside unless it is absolutely imperative for them to be outside,” said Dr. Douglas Brunette of Hennepin Healthcare. “It’ll last just a few days.”
Doctors at HCMC’s Burn Unit see uptick in frostbite cases over the past 24 hours
HCMC has treated at least 28 frostbite patients since Jan. 1. Six of those cases alone happened in the last 24 hours. Two of them were so severe the people had to be admitted for care.
How can we prevent opioid addiction?
Dr. Charles Reznikoff works in Addiction Medicine at Hennepin Healthcare.
FDA approves new device used to detect concussions
“My thought is this will change the way we classify brain injury,” said Dr. Uzma Samadani, a neurosurgeon with Hennepin Healthcare.
Hypertension drug recall expanded for cancer-causing impurity
“It is a risk, but it’s a really really small risk,” said Hennepin Healthcare cardiologist Dr. Brad Bart.
With deep-freeze closely followed by warm-up, slippery sidewalks pose big hazard
“There was one day, it was about eight or nine days ago, where we had in one shift about six or seven people with broken bones,” said Dr. Doug Brunette of Hennepin Healthcare.
Isanti County explosion survivor describes her escape and her recovery
“It makes everything more difficult when there’s an explosion involved in a fire,” said Dr. Jon Gayken with the Hennepin Healthcare Burn Center. Hennepin Healthcare is hosting the Midwest Burn Conference this week to share information about complex cases like Zdenek’s.
Dr. Gayken says cases like this can often involve injuries beyond the skin.
“Any time there is an explosion, you can have injury to your lungs and internal organs which goes with normal trauma,” he said.
