Archive for Thursday, February 6, 2014

Five tips to stay warm with today’s windchills

February 6, 2014

With a wind chill advisory issued by the National Weather Service in Topeka for Lawrence and surrounding areas today into Thursday, the Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department is reminding residents to keep safe and warm.

“Winter weather can be extremely dangerous, especially for infants and older adults,” said Kim Ens, a registered nurse who directs the department's clinic services.

  1. Avoid frostbite and hypothermia.

When exposed to cold temperatures, your body will lose heat faster than it can be produced. The result is hypothermia, or abnormally low body temperature. Warnings signs of hypothermia are shivering, exhaustion, confusion, fumbling hands, memory loss, slurred speech and drowsiness.


If there is frostbite, no sign of hypothermia, and immediate medical care is not available:

• Get into a warm room as soon as possible.

• Unless absolutely necessary, do not walk on frostbitten feet or toes because this increases the damage.

• Immerse the affected area in warm water (the temperature should be comfortable to the touch for unaffected parts of the body). Or, warm the affected area using body heat. For example, the heat of an armpit can be used to warm frostbitten fingers.



  1. Dress properly.

Be sure the outer layer of your clothing is tightly woven, preferably wind resistant, to reduce body-heat loss caused by wind. Wool, silk or polypropylene inner layers of clothing will hold more body heat than cotton.

  1. Stay dry.


  1. Understand wind chill.

The Wind Chill Index is the temperature your body feels when the air temperature is combined with the wind speed. When temperatures fall below freezing, frostbite can occur in a matter of minutes. As the speed of the wind increases, it can carry heat away from your body much more quickly, causing skin temperature to drop. When there are high winds, serious weather-related health problems are more likely, even when temperatures are only cool.

  1. Check on pets, friends and neighbors.

When winter weather puts us in the deep freeze make certain that you take time to check on family, friends and neighbors who are especially at risk from cold weather hazards: young children, older adults and the chronically ill. Also, if you have pets, bring them inside so they can stay warm, too.



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