Hi everybody. I’m Dr. Brian Evans, the Chief Medical Officer here at Tahoe Forest Health System. You know, here in North Lake Tahoe, we absolutely love the
winter. We’re all about the winter. We like to get out there and ski and snowboard and tele and everything else, but we also want to make sure that we are aware of the dangers that cold weather can bring. There is the risk of illness and injury. And specifically, I’m talking about hypothermia and frostbite. So, we really want to make sure we’re preventing those things from ever happening to us.
So, as we go outdoors and enjoy the winter, we want to wear layers of clothing. Want to make sure we protect our heads with a nice comfortable hat. We’ve got gloves. We’re wearing warm socks. And we’re keeping everything as dry as we possibly can. When our clothing gets wet, our body loses heat much more quickly. So, we want to watch out for that and and and wear dry clothing. Limit your time outdoors if you can. If it’s a very extremely cold day, you know, if you’re skiing out there and it’s a really freezing one, get into the lodge and warm up periodically and avoid hypothermia.
Warning signs that you need to watch out for. Number one, shivering. When people start to get very, very cold and hypothermic, they can have confusion. They might start having slurred speech. They might be unusually fatigued. So, if that’s you or it’s somebody you’re with, uh, you should really take that very seriously. Frostbite’s another story. You know, we sometimes see tingling in the fingertips or numbness. Sometimes we see skin turning whitish or gray or even kind of waxy and that can be an early sign of frostbite. That requires prompt medical attention. So watch out for that very very closely.
There are certain vulnerable groups, you know, and it’s the same groups that are vulnerable to other things, but we’re talking about young children, older adults, people who are unhoused are very much at risk for hypothermia and frostbite. So those are the folks we really watch out for. And anybody who has a medical condition that affects their circulation- think about people with vascular disease. Those folks, we really watch out for frostbite with them.
I’ll just say a word about alcohol use. You know, it tends to make hypothermia and frostbite more likely. It masks symptoms that people might have from those conditions and it also speeds up heat loss. And of course, alcohol makes uh folks have different decision making and sometimes poor decision making which can get them in trouble in the first place.
So, you know, winter is a great time to be in Tahoe. We love it here in the winter time. It’s for enjoying, but safety comes first. So, dress warmly, stay alert for warning signs, and look out for one another. And come see us if you need anything at all. Thank you very much.
