Dozens injured on slippery roads as ambulance calls quadruple in Rotterdam

Rotterdam and its surroundings saw emergency services stretched thin on Wednesday morning because of slippery roads. According to the Rotterdam-Rijnmond Safety Region, ambulance dispatchers handled four times the usual number of calls for a typical Wednesday morning.

Dozens of people have been treated for broken bones in Rotterdam’s hospitals after slipping on the roads, according to spokespeople from Maasstad Hospital and Erasmus Medical Center.

The Safety Region reports that many calls involve pedestrians who slipped on the streets, leading to longer ambulance response times. “If you don’t need to go out, please stay indoors until the ice clears,” the service urged at the time.

Erasmus MC treated four patients with serious injuries from accidents or falls. Between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m., Maasstad Hospital saw 25 people with broken bones. In the north, IJsselland Hospital reported multiple fractures in its emergency department, though a full count was not yet available. Ikazia Hospital in the south also faced a surge, treating many patients with fractures caused by falls.

Vehicles skidded off the road at several spots, notably in Hellevoetsluis, Vlaardingen, and Berkel en Rodenrijs. An RET bus slid onto the bus lane between Zoetermeer and Rotterdam amid icy roads. The driver was uninjured, and as the bus was on its way to the first route of the day, it had no passengers. Services in Berkel en Rodenrijs were temporarily suspended due to the slippery conditions, but have since resumed.

Ikazia Hospital’s spokesperson reported that the regional hospital distribution system shows all Rotterdam hospitals with emergency departments are under heavy strain. The “orange light” status means they can still manage the patient load, but the pressure must not rise much further.

The KNMI has ended its warnings for local icy conditions. Around midday, yellow alerts were lifted in Overijssel, Gelderland, Utrecht, Noord-Brabant, and Limburg, returning the whole country to the lowest alert level, green.

Earlier on Wednesday, nearly the whole country was under a yellow alert, excluding the Wadden Islands and the IJsselmeer region. By the morning, roads in the west and north had become passable, and the alert was already lifted in those areas.