Thousands of Children are Injured Each Year While Sledding

VALHALLA, N.Y. (January 4, 2024) – Sledding is a fun wintertime activity for families, however those exhilarating slides down neighborhood hills sent more than 200,000 people to emergency rooms over a recent 10-year period. Almost 70% of those patients were children and with a winter storm bringing significant snowfall amounts to our area, Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital is reminding parents, caregivers and snow-goers of all ages that sledding injuries are preventable, if the right steps are taken.

During a typical winter season, the pediatric emergency department at Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital cares for dozens of children injured while sledding. According to Darshan Patel, MD, Chief of Pediatric Emergency Medicine at Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital, common sledding injuries cared for in the hospital’s dedication pediatric emergency department include bruises, lacerations, broken bones, and abdominal and brain traumas.

Children sustain these injuries when sleds strike trees, fences and even other sledders. Often, the severity of the injury is compounded by the weight of a parent riding along with the child.

Originally offered by the American Academy of Pediatrics, Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital shares the following tips for safe sledding:

• Keep sledders away from motor vehicles.
• Supervise children while sledding.
• Keep young children separated from older children.
• Sled feet first or sitting up, instead of lying down head-first, to help prevent head injuries.
• Consider having your child wear a helmet while sledding.
• Use steerable sleds, not snow disks or inner tubes. Avoid sledding in crowded areas.
• Use sleds that are structurally sound and free of sharp edges and splinters, and make sure the steering mechanism is well-lubricated.
• Make sure sled slopes are free of obstructions like trees or fences, are covered in snow and clear of ice, are not too steep (slope of less than 30º), and end with a flat runoff.

If your child is injured while sledding or if you suspect your child may have a traumatic brain injury, bring your child to the nearest emergency department immediately.

WMCHealth’s Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital and MidHudson Regional Hospital have emergency departments dedicated to pediatric emergency care.

About Westchester Medical Center Health Network

The Westchester Medical Center Health Network (WMCHealth) is a 1,700-bed healthcare system headquartered in Valhalla, New York, with nine hospitals on seven campuses spanning 6,200 square miles of the Hudson Valley. WMCHealth employs more than 13,000 people and has nearly 3,000 attending physicians. The Network has Level I (adult and pediatric), Level II and Level III trauma centers, the region’s only acute care children’s hospital, an academic medical center, several community hospitals, dozens of specialized institutes and centers, Comprehensive and Primary Stroke Centers, skilled nursing, assisted living facilities, home-care services and one of the largest mental health systems in New York State. Today, WMCHealth is the pre-eminent provider of integrated health care in the Hudson Valley. For more information about WMCHealth, visit or follow WMCHealth on###a href="http://www.facebook.com/wmchealth"> Facebook.com/WMCHealth or Instagram.com/WMCHealth.