Winter is in full swing and with it comes seasonal hazards and slippery conditions. Snow, ice and sleet are the major culprits in winter slips and falls, along with improperly cleared roads and walkways. The same ingredients that make for fun, also make for walking hazards. Caution is key in slippery, winter conditions.
It is not uncommon to see a rise in emergency room visits from slips and falls after a snow or ice storm. Injuries from these falls include: wrist and hip fractures, sprains, and ligament and tendon damage. Head injuries are also common.
To avoid a trip to the emergency room, try to stay inside until roads and walkways are cleared. If that is not possible, use extra caution and wear footwear with stability and traction.
When temperatures rise during the day, remember they will drop as soon as the sun goes down. This can create unexpected spots of ice where there wasn’t any earlier in the day. Be sure to look out for hazardous black ice and snow covered ice on roads, sidewalks and uneven surfaces that have not been properly salted or plowed. Always be on the look out for unsafe areas when walking.
Tips for avoiding a slip or fall:
- Wear winter footwear that provides support and traction. Do not wear shoes or boots with smooth soles. Bring them along and change into them when you reach your destination.
- Look ahead when you are walking and plan a route if you need to avoid slippery sidewalks. Walking on the perimeter can help, as there could be more traction on grassy edges.
- Do not take shortcuts over snow piles or un-shoveled areas.
- Use hand rails along outdoor stairs and walkways.
- When getting out of the car or truck, use the door for support.
- Try not to carry bulky packages or backpacks which can throw off your balance.
- If you do feel yourself falling, relax your muscles and try to land on your side. This can help to prevent wrist or hip fractures.
- Keep your own driveway and walkways cleared and salted.
If it is unavoidable to cross a slippery area, the best way is to shuffle. To do this is, keep your head up, point your feet out, put your arms out for added balance then, take very short steps barely lifting your feet from the surface. This can give you a little added stability. Have a safe and slip free winter.
For more Bernstein Blogs, please visit callsam.com/blog
Ronald Wolf
3:09 pm on Saturday, March 2, 2013
Sam a family law firm? Yes, the family cherry picks the cases and then for the most part just takes thirty percent off the top from the settlements or winnings of their unknown hirees . Jeeeese!
Lillian Zaremba
4:08 pm on Sunday, March 3, 2013
when you get your legal degree, you can charge whatever you wish.
Bloomfield1876
6:37 am on Monday, March 4, 2013
Lillian, getting a law degree isn't about "charging whatever you wish" it's about having an ethical code to follow the law and represent your clients with integrity
Ronald Wolf
3:14 pm on Saturday, March 2, 2013
PS keep your head up and guess how you will land on black ice. If you begin to fall tilt your head foward and throw your hands down and back as if you are going go sit. It happens fast, so try to act fast. Try to fall relaxed.
Mark Itall
3:50 pm on Saturday, March 2, 2013
When you walk on ice, aside from short steps, do not slide your feet. Pick them up, put them down, cuts down on the initial slide. The next one takes practice to become a reflex, but will help prevent you from falling backwards. When you start to slip, immediately jam the front of your back foot straight down hard behind you. That stops the slip and your momentum shifts your weight forward.
Ronald Wolf
2:15 pm on Monday, March 4, 2013
Good advice for ice fishing Mark but black ice slips are too often "noseeums", especially at night in front of stores who do not salt proactively, so by the time you realize you are on ice you are already airborne. The city to save themselves from costly "SAMS" should post a site directed at business owners, or minimally fine those that do not salt. That would do a lot more than forcing residents to replace at their expense entire slabs. Maybe the Oak tree symbol of our city should be replaced by a money tree that our commission and city mangager thinks every resident has.
Ahoy
8:28 pm on Sunday, March 3, 2013
So we have a travel agent who is a shill for Disneyland and now an ambulance chaser advertising for free on "The Patch". What's next, Ronco selling Vegematics or spray-on hair?
Bloomfield1876
6:40 am on Monday, March 4, 2013
I am also disappointed as to how Patch is evolving into these free advertising sites.....think they should revisit their policy about "professional blogs" and refuse. To publish them. Let Sam pay for his own advertising.
Shawn Letwin
7:58 am on Monday, March 4, 2013
Spot on comments, Ahoy and Bloomfield1876!
Very little on this site about content; just rewriting copy, posting self-promotion or at most editing statements from government institutions that are biased towards the organization and have no balanced information.
It is all about the "clicks" to justify the charges for advertisers on this site.
Just a glorified Facebook wannabe, but directed for a specific community at large.
This and other similar sites clearly demonstrates how investigative reporting (in which the the public has relied on for generations) has devolved into just finding links to articles written by others or on their reliance of "contributors" to provide content for "editors" to post.
Editors as we knew them are devolving into glorified "webmasters".
Companys pay for banner links (advertisements) and the contributors are most oftern no more than self-promoting shills and Patch makes money on this endeavor.
Meredith McCutcheon
8:43 am on Monday, March 4, 2013
Hi everyone! I am one of those "shills" that you refer to. But I am also a citizen of Rochester Hills. My children attend Rochester Community Schools. I serve on the board of our school's PTA. My husband and I are active in our community. I also happen to work for a very small business located in Rochester Hills (there's just me and the owner).
As a citizen and small-business advocate, I appreciate the opportunity to blog for the Patch in their "Local Voices" section about something that I love and am knowledgeable about. And while I include information in my signature for those readers who would like to contact me (keep in mind that, in the vast majority of cases, our services are 100% free to our clients, so we're not even really "selling" anything), many people use my free advice to assist them in planning their own Disney vacations; as a member of this community, I think it's wonderful that I can help my neighbors in this way. The Patch is a great resource for local news, and I love that they offer the "Local Voices" section for citizens to share their expertise. The best part is that, if the subject of a particular blog does not interest someone, that person does not HAVE to read it!
Most people in this area are very supportive of small businesses (like mine). They understand that, when small businesses succeed, our communities are strengthened. I am eternally grateful for all of the support and encouragement I've received.
Gerry Szumiak
10:14 am on Monday, March 4, 2013
Yes you are one of those shills and the worst offender when it comes to advertising on the ticker. A few weeks ago you made reference to the problem so you are aware of how the ticker works yet you persist in contaminating it with your advertising.
Anyway, I contacted my local editor and she said that in the coming months we will be able to turn off such blatant advertising. I can't wait!
Joshua Raymond
12:21 pm on Monday, March 4, 2013
I enjoy reading Meredith's posts and have found them helpful. She is great about promptly answering questions regarding Disney and has a lot of information to share. In planning a trip to Disney, I've read many blogs and asked many questions and easily found Meredith the blogger who responds quickest.
She has been very helpful even though I have not spent a cent with her company. I prefer to do my own planning and booking, but if someone is looking to use a travel agent for Disney, I would absolutely recommend her. She's local, professional, prompt, and knowledgeable.
I happen to enjoy reading a local blog by an industry expert. I would like to see more of them. Perhaps a compromise would be a section called "Industry Experts". Then I enjoy content I like and anyone who wants to skip it has been forewarned.
Connie
9:03 am on Monday, March 4, 2013
Biased editorials....could be why the Detroit News does not publish a daily print newspaper anymore!! ps print journalism relys on advertising for their publishing costs!!! And I appreciate the local contributors to local stories; not someone writing from California to contribute to a Detroit area article on travel??? It's what the future is about; on-line reporting and contributions to keep informed about your community.
Mark Itall
11:48 am on Monday, March 4, 2013
Biased editorials is a silly comment. All editorials are inherently biased. Has nothing to do with the Detroit News not publishing daily print anymore. Same with the Freep.
Shawn Letwin
9:05 am on Monday, March 4, 2013
Meredith, congratulations to your commitment and contributions to your local community in Rochester Hills. Living in the Dexter area is a far cry from your community.
Are there some things that may be of use from your postings? Possibly, but I link to Dexter Patch and my statements reflect the intent alleged by Dexter Patch.
I too believe in the need to support local business like yours, I just live in Dexter and not Rochester Hills. Just be glad you are not a pizza joint in Dexter.
It is great that you have expanded your forum and I respect that. Taking advantage of the forum is great and it can only enhance any dialogue that is more directly faciliated by a Twitter account or the following of your Facebook account.
My comments are specific to the limited usefulness (and continuing to diminish) of Dexter Patch as it relates to the Dexter area. All the best to you. Enjoy, take care and be well. Shawn Letwin
Meredith McCutcheon
9:21 am on Monday, March 4, 2013
Thank you, Shawn! Best to you as well!
Jessica Carreras
9:11 am on Monday, March 4, 2013
Hi everyone - thought it might be useful to share some more information about Patch's Local Voices section. Many of our bloggers are local business owners (be that a big, well-known business or a small shop). We appreciate their blog posts as sharing their expertise on Patch—not as a means to free advertising.
Furthermore, blogging is open to ANYONE from a Patch community, so if you have something to share, we welcome you to sign up! You can learn more and get started by going to http://dearborn.patch.com/blog/apply (or Birmingham, Plymouth-Canton, etc.)
Shawn Letwin
9:41 am on Monday, March 4, 2013
Jessica-Regardless of his politics, I believe that Barack Obama was spot on when he acknowledged the emerging influence of blogging upon society by saying "if the direction of the news is all blogosphere, all opinions, with no serious fact-checking, no serious attempts to put stories in context, then what you will end up getting is people shouting at each other across the void but not a lot of mutual understanding”.
Maybe a reformatting of the Patch website or disclaimers posted on "news" articles would serve the readers of this "blog" instead of posting your staff as the "author" of a blog. It is very clear that their is no balanced reporting nor fact checking in many instances.
Very clever evolution of the blog to be turned into a business model for those to make money off of the base premise of just being a blog.
Meredith McCutcheon
9:13 am on Monday, March 4, 2013
Connie, who is writing from California about travel on the Patch?
Connie
9:19 am on Monday, March 4, 2013
Meritdeth...not on the Patch. The Detroit News/Freepress uses writers from around the country to contribute to their articles as a centralized (cheaper) way of reporting.
I enjoy the Patch and local reporters!!
Meredith McCutcheon
9:21 am on Monday, March 4, 2013
Ah, got it! Thanks!
acroporless
9:24 am on Monday, March 4, 2013
okay, you are a travel agent who gives disney advice? do you have a connection to the bernsteins that you benefit from? If you post in the public domain people will read it, and have comments and or questions, especially in this instance, there are a lot of places , sites that offer slip, trip & fall advice, that are not attorney related. By the way i support small business to, and one of the biggest threats they face is frivilious law suits from someone who wants something for nothing, driving up the cost of insurance.
Meredith McCutcheon
9:26 am on Monday, March 4, 2013
The only reason I commented was because a previous poster referred to me directly, lumping me in the same category as this Bernstein blog post, and I was hoping to shed some light on what the "Local Voices" section was intended for.
Ronald Wolf
2:37 pm on Monday, March 4, 2013
acro (is that ok for short?) You are so correct. There should be a law against lawyers who encourage lawsuits for their own enrichment. Who pays for it all, the consumer, with higher prices at the stores, for services, for insurance.
Fat chance as the courts would probably end up clogged with so many protesting lawyers complaining about a violation of their first amendment right there would no room for genuine complaints. I have a divorced friend suffering from a painful rare spinal condition who has been waiting for years for a judge only because hundreds of legal greedheads are encouraging the unemployed to explore social security disability as an option with slick television adds. Ditto with medical supply parasites draining medicare and medicaid. If Shakespeare were alive today he would write a new tragedy involving the fall of a great country based on slip and fall and malpractice lawyers.
michelle
9:37 am on Monday, March 4, 2013
Meredith, I have been directed to your blog from Trenton's Patch and find it interesting. It never seems like you are trying to sell something. People have asked questions of you and you always give great answers. I really don't know why some people feel the need to pick you out. I never saw you pushing to make a buck. I think some people are just too angryw ith nothing better to do and no matter what you will never please them. They don't realize they hold ALL the power by just overlooking what they don't want to read and skipping to the next topic. :-)
Meredith McCutcheon
9:44 am on Monday, March 4, 2013
Thanks Michelle! I appreciate the support. And I'm happy to hear that some fellow Downriver folks have found my blog! I grew up Downriver, and I used to teach at THS. Thanks for reading!
michelle
1:26 pm on Monday, March 4, 2013
You are welcome Meredith! Keep it up. Maybe you would be more welcome in Trenton/Downriver blogs since we are a small community who values our small businesses more. I know most of my fellow Trenton Patch readers truly enjoy hearing about local businesses, who they are and what they do. They are welcome in our community in every shape and form. They get highlighted weekly so we can support each other.
I'm sorry you have had such an unpleasant response from people. You are a local voice, you do have the experience to make your blog of value and never once did I feel I had to buy anything you were selling. I learned a lot from you and the people who comment on your articles.
I took down my other comments because I let the nastiness creep in when all I really want to see is a pleasant experience on here not a negative one. We should all have a voice and I hope you can tune out the negative ones like I choose to do from now on.
Sandy
10:57 am on Monday, March 4, 2013
Meredeth, just to let you know, I also read your blog with great interest on Wyandotte Patch. I am also a Downriver resident. I have only been to Disney one horrible trip. I know it could have been much better, and a good memory, had I gone with someone else and had planned it in a better way. I hope to someday go again for a good memory and would follow your advice and knowledge for that. I have also sent your blog to a friend who is planning a Disney trip this summer with her 3 children. I agree with Michelle and if someone does not care to read yours or any other blog just don't read it. No reason to waste their time reading and then complaining about one thing or another. I also have never seen you try to sell something or promote your business. Just good advice about your Disney knowledge and wisdom. I thank you for that Meredith.
Meredith McCutcheon
11:00 am on Monday, March 4, 2013
Hi Sandy. Sorry to hear about your bad experience; like you said, hopefully you can replace it with a good one!! And thank you so much for your support. All of your kind words have really brightened my day!
Geoff Hoffman
11:02 am on Monday, March 4, 2013
If you, or anyone else, is really "blogging" just for the purpose of giving useful advice then you don't need to include your contact information. People can comment on your posts, if need be. By putting your contact information it makes it look like you are really soliciting business, which is honestly what you're trying to do. I doubt if you would be "blogging" if you didn't have a business that you were trying to promote!
Paul R.
11:27 am on Monday, March 4, 2013
9 posts (and counting) from the Travel Agent shill on the Attorney shill's blog. Maybe the Attorney shill will slap a cease and desist order on her to prevent hijacking and dominating this string. We can only hope.
Geoff Hoffman
11:34 am on Monday, March 4, 2013
"Local Voices" is meant for true blogging. Like I stated, the only reason you are "blogging" is to drum up business! Plain and simple. If you weren't running a business you wouldn't be blogging. And, like you stated, "It's a great way to promote local small business". Glad to see you finally fessed up that you are really just trying to promote your business.
Geoff Hoffman
11:54 am on Monday, March 4, 2013
Meredith, where did your comment go? Why did you delete it? Is it because you realized that saying "It's a great way to promote local small business" hurt your stance that you're only "blogging" to provide hard-to-get information for people and supported the point others, like myself, are making that you're only blogging to drum up business? Oops!
Meredith McCutcheon
12:07 pm on Monday, March 4, 2013
Hi Geoff. I honestly don't know what happened. I completely stand by what I said. As far as I understood it, the "Local Voices" section of the Patch allows ANYONE to share their expertise...including, but not limited to, small business owners. I LOVE reading the blogs in this section, because I learn something new all of the time. If I'm not interested in a particular topic, I skip it, but I never feel the need to attack the author. I appreciate the fact that they're sharing their expertise to begin with. And if the author happens to be a small-business owner, I want to know about it because I I'd rather patronize a local small business than a big corporation, and I know that many people share this sentiment. I think that the Patch does a great job of supporting small business (by profiling them, etc.), as do many local news publications, which I appreciate. So, yes, promoting small businesses is a good thing. There's nothing wrong with that. It strengthens our communities. And if readers would like to patronize our business, that's not a bad thing. If they don't want to, that's fine, too. I'm honestly still glad to have the opportunity to share information about something that I love with my neighbors...because that's what we all are, really. Thanks, Geoff!
todd b
11:12 am on Monday, March 4, 2013
MRPC 7.1 are Michigan Rules of Professional Conduct governing promotion of attorney services. I feel infomercial content in this blog crosses the guidelines for such marketing. MRPC 7.1 clearly defines that attorneys in the State of Michigan can't use/infer the words expert, certified or specialist in any promotional message they make unless such claim is backed by verifiable facts validated by a reputable & independent organization. The advice itself in this infomercial is not objectionable ... but infers specific expertise by the author on Winter outdoor walking safety, defining with great clarity exactly what to do and not to do. Does the author have independent certification as an expert for such recommendations? If certification exists, it is clearly not defined in this infomercial. I contend this effort is just manipulation of a free medium to create top-of-mind brand (name) awareness. I would hope the Patch strongly condemns this type of 'infomercial' in the future. At a minimum, the Patch should mandate that the sponsor provides certified references backing the claim (advice) they are providing.
It is bad enough the general public has to put up with ubiquitous and relentless "paid" advertising on the subject of how to sue, but allowing free messages to now penetrate another layer of consumer armor with content stretching governance on the topic has gone too far. I would encourage all readers to review MRPC 7.1, form your own opinion and become vocal on the topic.
John David
12:33 pm on Monday, March 4, 2013
Todd,
MRPC 7.1 is about law firms making claims about their legal services. This blog item does not mention any service, only advice on how to avoid slips on ice. No service claims nor claims of expertise. Also, your paraphrasing appears to be imprecise. I've attached a link to MRPC 7.1 and the text of 7.1. As you say, the blog has unobjectionable content, but in no way appears to not comply with the MPRC.
http://www.law.cornell.edu/ethics/mi/code/MI_CODE.HTM#Rule_7.1
A lawyer may, on the lawyer's own behalf, on behalf of a partner or associate, or on behalf of any other lawyer affiliated with the lawyer or the lawyer's law firm, use or participate in the use of any form of public communication that is not false, fraudulent, misleading, or deceptive. A communication shall not:
(a) contains a material misrepresentation of fact or law, or omits a fact necessary to make the statement considered as a whole not materially misleading;
(b) be likely to create an unjustified expectation about results the lawyer can achieve, or state or imply that the lawyer can achieve results by means that violate the Rules of Professional Conduct or other law; or
(c) compares the lawyer's services with other lawyers' services, unless the comparison can be factually substantiated.
Shawn Letwin
12:09 pm on Monday, March 4, 2013
Sorry to get off topic of this article, but when did Mill Creek get a new Assistant Principal? What happened to the prior Assistant Principal?
Why is he blogging for an organization different than the school district?
Why does he currently run a wellness program three days a week for all faculty and staff of Dexter Schools? That leaves only two days worth of work as the assistant principal at a school that is in the top 10% of the state with an achievement gap...incredible strategy to address that issue...not.
Why does the district pay for this type of administrative position?
When does the district become on the hook financially for the 5 Communities director? How much will that be?
Why are school district facilities being used for this meeting?
Is Cobler's role on the School Board and the CWF board a conflict of interest?
Maybe the program is a good one, but the interconnectedness with the school district and CWF is too interwoven between paid public employees, elected public servants, locally owned school district properties and the foundation.
I would have posted under the Local Voices article for this blog, but it did not have a "Leave a Comment" like some of the other business/local voices blogs. Why?
Brooke Tajer
2:52 pm on Monday, March 4, 2013
Hi Shawn, I'm not sure why you were unable to leave a comment there... but you should be able to now. Here is the link: http://dexter.patch.com/blog_posts/the-dexter-wellness-coalition-is-making-moves-and-needs-you. Thanks! And let me know if you have any other issues.
Kate
12:18 pm on Monday, March 4, 2013
Sponsors/advertising are everywhere in media, this is nothing new. Stop acting like it's The Worst Thing Ever.
These are tips, no one is forcing anyone to 'Call Sam'.
Geoff Hoffman
12:34 pm on Monday, March 4, 2013
Kate, drugs like K-2 are nothing new either. So I guess we should just ignore them as well. Wrong is wrong.
Gerry Szumiak
1:48 pm on Monday, March 4, 2013
For the love of god please delete this thread...
GP For Life
1:51 pm on Monday, March 4, 2013
Please close this abomination of a thread. Seriously, let the ambulance chasing happen in the physical world and not this one.
Ronald Wolf
1:58 pm on Monday, March 4, 2013
I expected my remarks to snowball but not an avalanche! Now every lawyer in town is going to post advice!
Jade
3:24 pm on Monday, March 4, 2013
Was this one of the signs of the Apocolypse?
Kate
2:38 pm on Monday, March 4, 2013
Yes, compare drugs to advertising. That makes absolutely no sense, Geoff.
Make sure you don't watch television, read a newspaper, magazine, look at a billboard, listen to the radio, etc. Because, advertising is everywhere. Sorry. It's probably what helps these blogs stay afloat. Y'know, the blogs that you're reading and complaining about, when you really could just stop complaining and read something else.
Geoff Hoffman
3:25 pm on Monday, March 4, 2013
If everyone switches to blogging and they stop paying for advertising how long do you think the Patch will survive? Thank's for making my point.
Jade
3:16 pm on Monday, March 4, 2013
After the travel agent posted her ninth post on this thread, I poked my eyes out. Someone tell me what is happening here.
Kate
3:22 pm on Monday, March 4, 2013
Geoff, ya know what I'm not doing? Acting like a big old Grinch over something that is completely, and utterly unimportant in the grand scheme of things. These ornery comments are silly. Go outside, have a donut, have a good day instead of nit-picking ridiculous things.
Geoff Hoffman
3:29 pm on Monday, March 4, 2013
You're right your "ornery comments are silly".
Brooke Tajer
3:34 pm on Monday, March 4, 2013
Thank you all for the interesting comments. Because we have gone so far off topic, the comments on this thread are now being closed. Thanks!
movinon
3:35 pm on Monday, March 4, 2013
Meredith, I applaud your tenacity & composure as you continue to blog on this 'community' based business known as Patch. Never surrender!
As if this free online resource somehow belongs to the people, the people want to run it. I'm not sure who decided to pronounce themselves "king" of Patch, but if you are from Fenton you would know that we already have a "king" who thinks he runs the town. That could be some of the problem here. I think the "Patch" is next to a bald spot on most of the comment contributors sun burnt heads.AOL owns this place. They are not in it for enjoyment, yours or anyone else's. Like everything else that seems to start out great you will see this Patch experience move toward AOL's prime directive. That is the indoctrination of smaller mindset's, more control over people's opinions, and their assets. Corporations are after ALL 'people'. Citizens United.
Speaking of laws...someone up there ^ mentioned the Bernstein Bears can charge whatever they like. That isn't true. They are limited by law to taking most of the profit...
but anyway...thinking because you are free to badger people here you somehow have a say in what is published here is just....hysterical!!! They can & will allow you to ruin peoples sleep & reputation if it draws enough attention to the site. Page hits for advertisers. That behavior will be reined in by the occasional lawsuit but money is no object for 'them', or should I say 'It'. Who owns AOL? It own's you.