CINCINNATI (WKRC)— As a cold spell grips the area, local emergency medicine specialists are urging residents to be vigilant about the dangers of hypothermia and frostbite. With temperatures and wind chills dropping into the teens, the risk of cold-related injuries is on the rise.
Taylor Wilson of Good Samaritan Hospital said, “Just the cold weather, change of weather, all of that changes and it kind of exacerbates everybody’s symptoms.” Wilson’s team has observed an increase in respiratory complications and hypothermia, a condition where the body temperature drops dangerously low. If not addressed promptly, frostbite can occur.
Bill Hawke, a nurse manager at Good Samaritan Hospital, explained, “It starts out with severe pain in your fingers or toes, that’s where you normally start to see it, but then it will go numb.” Hawke, with extensive experience in emergency medicine, said he has witnessed numerous cases where fingers and toes required amputation due to frostbite…