By Michael Joel-Hansen

Cold Weather

Cold weather forces changes for some

Jan 31, 2019 | 5:10 PM

The Prince Albert area has seen some cold conditions over the past month.

A number of cold weather warnings have been issued in recent months. The conditions have forced many people and organizations to make changes in order to adapt. One of those organizations is the YWCA, which runs a cold weather shelter in the city.

YWCA CEO Donna Brooks said the weather has stretched the shelters resources.

“They have been running a little over capacity during the cold weather snap, they’ve also noticed that they’ve been handing out a lot more toques, mitts, gloves and boots,” she said.

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The shelter has 10 regular beds. Brooks explained when needed they can add up to five more beds and bring the overall capacity of the shelter up to 15. Whenever the shelter is accommodating more than 10 people it is considered being over capacity.

“We consider our capacity 10, because that’s what were funded for,” said Brooks.

When the YWCA has to accommodate more people in the shelter, they need to spend more money to run the facility.

“Anytime we open those extra five beds, we have to add extra staffing,” Brooks said.

Having to pay the extra has put the YWCA’s shelter program into a fiscal deficit, which forces the organization to look in other places to make it up.

“Any little grants we get, any fundraising activities, any donations, things like that will help make up that deficit,” she said.

Brooks added they would appreciate any donations of winter clothes or money during this time.

The YWCA is not the only local organization which has been dealing with issues brought on by the cold. Parkland Ambulance has dealt with calls brought on by the conditions according to director of public affairs Lyle Karasiuk.

“I wouldn’t say a lot, we’ve seen our share and a few more people than we would, that have been hypothermic, we’ve seen a few very minor cases of frost bite, since we’ve had our significant cold snap,” he said.

When dealing with people who have frost bite related injuries paramedics generally have to deal with the symptoms of hypothermia. This means medics have to warm their patient up by using heat apparatuses, or injecting warming fluids. The medical response depends on how severe the hypothermia is. Karasiuk added there can be other issues too.

“If they have a crack in the skin or some significant bleeding and obviously depending onto what degree they have frost bite, quite a bit of pain our paramedics can manage all of that,” he said.

Karasiuk explained when temperatures dip as they have recently, Parkland Ambulance does get called out to help people who may not have shelter. But there are other related calls as well.

“We tend to see a lot more people, not only people who are outside, but people who have health related issues that are aggravated because of the cold,” he said.

These conditions include diabetes, which can restrict the flow of blood to certain extremities. People who have issues with their breathing can also have their condition triggered.

“Severe cold in an asthma patient who doesn’t deal with it well can invoke an asthma attack,” Karasiuk said.

MichaelJoel.Hansen@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @mjhskcdn