Extreme cold injuries

It's officially winter weather preparedness week here in Mid-Missouri, and Thursday's topic of the day is extreme cold here in Mid-Missouri and how dangerous it can be.

Since 1979, there have been 631 deaths from which hypothermia was a factor in Missouri. According to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. A person can become disoriented, confused and shiver uncontrollably leading to early signs of hypothermia when the body temperature drops below 95 degrees. Falling in water can also speed up the process of hypothermia. 

Frostbite occurs when the skin becomes cold enough to freeze, and a loss of feeling or appearances in extremities become pale as an early sign. In extreme cases, it can set in very short amounts of time, causing permanent damage. 

Hypothermia and frostbite can be sped up by wind chill. Typically, on most days we'll have a sweatshirt or a jacket on when it's cooler to help regulate our body temperature and keep that heat closer to our actual body. When there is an increase in wind with these cooler temperatures, the body heat radiating from our bodies can be pushed away leading to a quicker loss of heat. This can speed up the timing of these extreme cold injuries and can increase the severity.