PITTSBURGH — An urgent warning from Pittsburgh EMS: Stay off the ice.
Video from over the weekend shows people venturing out onto Pittsburgh’s frozen rivers, but public safety leaders say it’s never a good idea.
Ranging from a man evading police on the frozen Allegheny River to visitors at Point State Park, people just could not seem to stay off the ice.
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“Over the weekend, we got several emergency alerts for people walking on the ice,” Pittsburgh EMS Chief Amera Gilchrist said.
Pittsburgh’s frozen rivers are attracting a lot of attention.
“I don’t think the immediate public understands the dangers of walking along the ice,” Gilchrist said. “It takes about four to five inches of solid ice to be able to hold an adult person and there’s no way to tell the thickness of the ice and which places the ice is thicker or thinner.”
Chief Gilchrist says one wrong step could send you into the water and under the ice.
“The water is moving, is actively moving, so it’s very easy to fall through the ice and get swept away,” Gilchrist said.
It doesn’t take long for hypothermia to set in.
“It could take less than 10 minutes for someone to actually become hypothermic enough to be in a state that the effects are irreversible,” Gilchrist said.
That makes it dangerous for first responders, too.
“Our first responders have to put their lives on the line to help you and it’s not fair to them to have to put themselves in danger just because you think it’s a fun activity,” Gilchrist said. “Let’s keep the walking on the ice and skating on the ice to the ice rinks -- places that are actually meant for those activities.”
While Pittsburgh Police said it is not illegal to walk on the frozen rivers, officials stress it is not worth the risk to your life or others.
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