With the thermometer expected to dip well below zero by Monday night, experts are warning area residents to bundle up outdoors.
Or, better yet, stay inside.
The National Weather Service is forecasting a low tonight of 4 degrees. Lows will drop to 15 below zero on Monday night and 7 below zero on Tuesday night. The high today is expected to be 33 degrees, with highs Monday of 4 degrees and Tuesday of 4 degrees below zero. The mercury is expected to reach a high of 17 degrees on Wednesday.
The area’s oldest and youngest residents, in particular, are at risk for serious and potentially life-threatening complication from cold exposure, said Dr. Carol Cunningham, an Akron General emergency medicine physician who serves as state medical director for the Ohio Department of Public Safety, Division of EMS.
Subzero temperatures, combined with forecasted windy conditions, increase the chance of developing frostbite or hypothermia — a dangerous, abnormally low body temperature.
“With the temperatures that I think we’re going to be experiencing in the next few days, make sure if you’re going outside all your skin is covered,” said Dr. Scott Wilber, an emergency medicine physician and medical director of the Senior Emergency Department at Summa Akron City Hospital.
As people age, their metabolic rate gets lower and they lose muscle mass — factors that can make them more susceptible to developing hypothermia, Wilber said.
“For the elderly, you want to really minimize the risk,” he said. “We want to make sure that they’re outside for as limited an amount of time as possible, that they’re wearing appropriate clothing and family members and friends are checking on them.”
Even a quick trip to the mailbox could have disastrous consequences if an older resident slips and falls on the ice, Cunningham said.
“We actually see a number of cases of people who have fallen and can’t get up and end up getting hypothermia very quickly,” she said.
Symptoms of hypothermia include shivering, confusion, memory loss, slurred speech and drowsiness.
Just minutes out in bitter cold and wind also can result in frostbite, or freezing of the skin that causes loss of feeling and color.
“Once you start to see that you’re becoming numb and tingly, that’s an indication that you have early cold injury to that extremity,” Wilber said. “That’s a reason to get things warm.”
To avoid frostbite, dress in multiple layers and keep dry, said Dr. Laura Pollauf, director of emergency services at Akron Children’s Hospital. Don’t forget to cover fingers, toes, noses and ears, which are most at risk for frostbite.
If children are playing outdoors, bring them inside frequently to warm up and shed wet layers of clothing, she said.
“When it’s dropping below zero,” she said, “that increases your risk for frostbite in a shorter period of time.”
Youngsters with developmental delays or sensory perception problems and those who are nonverbal can be especially at risk of cold-related problems because they can’t express that they’re too chilly, she said. Parents also should be cautious with children who have asthma, which can be set off by extreme temperatures.
For adults, avoid drinking alcohol to try to stay warm outdoors, Akron General’s Cunningham said.
“Alcohol is a detriment,” she said. “It may make you feel warm, but it actually makes you lose body heat and fluids much more quickly.”
Cunningham also urged people to use caution with space heaters, which can pose a risk for fires and carbon monoxide poisoning. The hospital already has seen at least one case of carbon monoxide poisoning from a space heater this winter.
Cheryl Powell can be reached at 330-996-3902 or cpowell@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow Powell on Twitter at twitter.com/abjcherylpowell.