By Caitlin Brezinski

Cold weather distress top of mind as mercury dips

Nov 27, 2014 | 6:01 AM

With the weather quickly becoming colder, watching out for people in distress and keeping safe is paramount. 

“With winter weather comes the chances of getting hypothermic,” said Lyle Karasiuk with Parkland Ambulance. 

Karasiuk said there are varying degrees of hypothermia and some signs are more visible than others.  The first physical sign is red skin which comes from the skin being exposed to the cold.  Usually warming the skin up will get rid of the frost nip.

“As our body temperature will drop, exposed skin starts to freeze because our body’s made up predominately of water,” said Karasiuk.  “Then you start to see the white waxy blotches or in the end, frozen skin tissue.”

When body temperature becomes cold, people go through personality changes.   Karasiuk said those changes can be a way to identify distress.

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“We act bizarre, maybe we stagger, we stumble, we slur our speech, we act confused, those sorts of things,” he said.  “That’s a good telltale sign for someone.”

Karasiuk said getting that person warmed up and comfortable is the first thing to do.  He said to avoid giving them something to drink because often they just physically can’t do it. 

“If they don’t start to return to a normal mentation and a normal presentation shortly, you need to get some help for them,” he said.  “Call paramedics, we need to get them into a health care facility and continue that warming process.”

Sgt. Brandon Mudry with the Prince Albert Police said when people are seen around the city late at night, police are proactive in identifying when someone needs help or a safe place to stay. 

“Certainly the frontline officers, they’re going to stop and talk to them and make sure that they’re alright and that they have a place to go,” he said. 

He said 911 should be called if someone sees an emergency situation but can also call any other emergency service information lines.  If the situation is not an emergency, Mudry said mobile crisis is an option as well.

“At night they can certainly assist and facilitate in finding somebody some place to stay,” he said. 

Mudry said occasionally, there are people who come to the station to request a bed for the night but said they make efforts to find them different facilities.

“As a last resort, we are absolutely a place to come to if there’s nowhere else to turn so we will put people up for the night if that’s the case,” he said.  “We won’t turn anybody away that’s for sure.”

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