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How to stay safe during an ice storm with deadly temperatures?

2023-02-03T16:06:53.039Z


When winter storms force us to prepare for low temperatures, wind chills, sleet, and snow, our lives can be in danger. Here are some tips to keep you safe during cold seasons.


Accidents and delays on highways due to winter storm in the US 1:37

(CNN) --

When winter storms force us to prepare for low temperatures, wind chills, sleet and snow, our lives can be in danger.

Whether it's a “bomb cyclone” or a polar vortex, these winter events that affect millions of people can often cause health problems for babies and older adults, who are at greater risk of cold-related illness or injury, as babies they lose body heat more easily and older adults tend to produce less body heat.

But there are steps you can take to keep yourself and others safe when extreme cold hits.

Tips to stay safe indoors

When staying indoors during cold temperatures or a winter storm, the CDC offers these tips:

Make sure that babies under the age of one do not sleep in cold rooms and have appropriate warm clothing such as pajamas, one-piece blankets or sleeping bags.

Remove pillows or other soft bedding from a baby's crib, as they pose a risk of suffocation or sudden infant death syndrome.

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If you have friends or neighbors who are over the age of 65, check their condition often and make sure their homes have adequate heating.

Leave water faucets slightly open to prevent frozen pipes.

Eat well-balanced meals to keep warm.

  • What is the polar vortex that causes frost in North America?

Accidents and delays on highways due to winter storm in the US 1:37

Avoid alcohol and caffeine, as they can cause your body to lose heat more quickly.

"Never use generators, gas or charcoal grills, camp stoves, or similar devices inside your home, in basements, in garages, or near windows," the CDC says.

"Vapors are deadly."

Using the stove for heating is not safe, the CDC warns;

instead, use extra blankets, sleeping bags, or coats.

A working fireplace or space heater can be a safe alternative.

Tips to stay safe outdoors

When venturing outdoors during a winter storm, the CDC and the National Weather Service have some recommendations:

Dress warmly with hats, scarves, and gloves and by wearing several layers of clothing.

Avoid walking on ice and avoid getting wet.

If you have to shovel snow or do other outdoor work, take your time and work slowly.

If you have older neighbors, offer to help shovel their sidewalks or driveways.

Avoid traveling on icy roads if possible.

If you are stranded outdoors, it is safer to stay in the vehicle.

Try to keep pets inside during cold weather, but if they do go outside, give their paws and underside a good clean when you return indoors.

Never leave your dog off-leash in the snow or ice.

  • A "once-in-a-generation" winter storm will hit nearly every US state, paralyzing Christmas travel

Accidents and delays on highways due to winter storm in the US 1:37

This Is What Extreme Cold Does To Your Body

Many of us feel the freezing temperatures of winter on our toes and fingertips before other parts of our bodies.

This happens because your body works to protect your vital organs from the cold, Dr. Suzanne Salamon, associate chief of clinical programs at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, previously told CNN.

"Blood vessels in all parts of the body will constrict," he said.

“They will get smaller to try to preserve heat.

“What the body tries very hard to do is protect the most important organs, which are the ones on the inside: the heart, the brain and the lungs,” he said.

"The body tries to keep them warm by redirecting heat from the fingers and toes inward, so the blood vessels in the fingers and toes become very small and not enough blood passes through them."

This is important for the body to do, and do it quickly, because winter weather has been associated with health risks such as heart attacks, asthma symptoms, frostbite, and hypothermia.

Globally, more deaths attributable to cold temperatures tend to be caused by cold than heat, according to a 2015 study in The Lancet.

Cold Risk for Heart Disease Sufferers

Freezing weather can take a toll on your heart, especially if you have cardiovascular disease.

“You always hear about people who go out and shovel snow and have a heart attack,” Salamon said.

Cold weather can act to narrow your blood vessels, and that can put stress on your heart.

“Shoveling snow is one example where we see people who have heart disease or risk factors for heart disease pushing themselves harder than they otherwise would.

Shoveling is hard work;

people who have heart disease and back problems are at a higher risk of injury or illness while shoveling," Dr. Reed Caldwell, an assistant professor in the Ronald O. Perelman Department of Emergency Medicine at Langone Medical Center, previously told CNN. from New York University.

A mere 1 degree Celsius drop in temperature was associated with a 2% cumulative increase in heart attack risk in a 2010 study in the BMJ.

The study involved data on 84,010 hospital admissions for heart attacks in England and Wales between 2003 and 2006. The researchers analyzed the data to determine any possible relationship between outside temperature and heart attacks.

However, the heart is not the only part of the body that could be vulnerable to health problems in the winter.

Polar vortex on its way to the northern hemisphere 0:47

Dealing with asthma in the winter

Cold weather can wreak havoc on the lungs, as dry air can irritate the airways, especially in people with lung conditions like asthma, according to the American Lung Association.

"Cold air causes bronchospasm, so people with asthma and COPD may experience increased symptoms in the winter months," Caldwell said.

If you have asthma and are exposed to cold weather, “put a scarf around your nose.

That certainly helps, because then you're breathing your own vapor through your mouth," Salamon said.

On the other hand, a more well-known cold-related health problem is frostbite.

Freezing: a danger even for the eyes

Frostbite can occur in subzero temperatures when blood vessels narrow, skin temperatures drop, and ice crystals form around and inside cells, causing damage.

“There are a number of cold-related skin injuries.

The first is called 'frostnip', and is a cooling of the outermost skin tissue without any actual destruction of the tissue.

You know this is happening because the skin can become discolored, sometimes bright red, and it can look irritated and feel very sensitive, and that's a good warning sign that the skin is getting too cold," Caldwell said.

“So frostbite involves actual destruction of the skin, and frozen skin typically looks pale, waxy, and can sometimes even turn purple or black as the tissue begins to die.

Frozen skin may be numb or painless,” he said.

Frostbite can even occur in the eyes, Salamon said.

“When you're outside in cold, windy weather, you can freeze your eyes, which is really dangerous,” he said.

“The cold starts to form small blisters in the eye or small crystals on the skin, which can flip over and damage the skin or the eye itself,” he said.

“Those blood vessels really constrict a lot, so not a lot of blood goes through them, which reduces circulation to the eyes.”

Blood vessels constrict to prevent hypothermia, a dangerous condition that occurs when your body loses more heat than it produces, causing your core temperature to drop below 35 degrees Celsius.

“The most concerning health effect of cold exposure is hypothermia, which can cause damage to vital organs, including the heart, nervous system, and kidneys.

In extreme cases, death can occur.

This is often the result of abnormal heart rhythms," Dr. Jeahan Colletti, an emergency medicine specialist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, previously told CNN.

The people most at risk of hypothermia, and any cold-related health hazards, tend to be older adults, Salamon said.

“If people have a neighbor who is an elderly person, when there is very cold weather, they must control it.

When people are very, very cold, they can get very confused and not even know enough to ask for help,” he said.

More tips to stay warm and healthy

What else can people do to stay warm and healthy in winter?

An important risk reduction measure depends on the wardrobe.

“It's very important to dress in layers, so … put on more than one pair of gloves and then a mitten on top, because the air that gets trapped between those layers helps keep you warm,” Salamon said.

“Tight clothing is not good, because you can't get the benefit of layering.

You really need to have looser sweaters, shawls if you're sitting indoors, to try and layer up.

It helps to have a ski mask to protect your ears and nose,” she said.

“If you get wet, like playing in the snow or shoveling snow, take off your wet clothes, because wet clothes really make things worse.

It makes everything colder.

… Boots must be waterproof.”

Preventative measures not only involve dressing for the cold, but also avoiding too many cocktails when it's cold, said Colletti, of the Mayo Clinic.

“Avoid drinking alcohol when you are cold, as mental awareness is affected, limiting the ability to recognize the symptoms of significant cold exposure.

Alcohol also causes the body's blood vessels to dilate, increasing heat loss,” he said.

-- CNN's Dave Hennen and Jamie Gumbrecht contributed to this report

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Source: cnnespanol

All news articles on 2023-02-03

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