Experts warn of injury from cold exposure during low temperatures

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Temperatures in mid-Missouri have plummeted to the single digits, and health experts are warning the conditions can lead to frostbite or hypothermia.

"When we're dealing with really severe cold weather like we have right now hypothermia can develop pretty quickly. Especially if there's a big wind, and the reason is the wind will blow the heat from your body so if you're not wearing well-insulated or lots of layers of clothing it can become really easy to get hypothermic," said Dr. Christopher Sampson with MU Health Care.

He said wind and cold temperatures can also lead to frostbite, which can start to form in around 10 minutes.

Sampson said sometimes people start to form frostbite because they are doing something outside distracting like shoveling snow or fixing their car and do not notice they are forming frostbite.

Sampson said signs of hypothermia include feeling extremely cold and pain or tingling in fingers, toes and the face. Signs of frostbite include fingers or parts of the body feeling numb, becoming painful, and possibly not being able to use them properly.

As of Tuesday afternoon, neither University Hospital or Boone Hospital Center

With the extreme cold, Sampson said if anyone is without heat in their home for an extended period of time they should seek shelter.

During extreme cold weather events, the City of Columbia opens an overnight warming center at Wabash Bus Station on top of the usual shelters.

Brad Fraizer with the Columbia Fire Department said when people's heaters stop working, they start getting more calls for fires started by things like space heaters. He said people should not use space heaters for permanent heating.

"One thing that concerns us when we start seeing people using stoves and ovens to heat their home. They're not designed to do that," Fraizer said. "It increases your risk for carbon monoxide poisoning and it's just not safe to have an open flame like that going for extended periods of time."

Fraizer said carbon monoxide is colorless and odorless, but signs of poisoning include confusion, nausea and more.

Fraizer also said with the forecast for the next week being so cold people should not stay in their homes if their heat goes out.