Winter weather can be hazardous. Bitter cold, snow and ice mean an increase in car crashes, falls, back injuries and occasionally heart attack from shoveling. Robert McNamara, chairman of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Temple, says the major injuries they see on icy days are due to falls. "People get head injuries from falling back and hitting their heads, wrist fractures," says McNamara. "In older patients, hip fractures are fairly common. My word of caution would be, don't go out unless you have to, especially if you're an older patient."