TYH: Hypothermia
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We had really cold weather a couple of weeks ago, weather that dropped us down into the minus teens for about a week and the windchill really didn’t help.
It got a few of us in the newsroom thinking about hypothermia and then had us deciding to do a To Your Health segment on it, so here we are. Hypothermia is defined as the potentially dangerous drop in body temperature by medical professionals and can occur year round.
“A lot of people don’t realize that a nice sunny day in the Spring time…and then you jump into a cold lake, well that can cause hypothermia,” said PG Search and Rescue Manager, Dave Merritt, “moisture and jumping in cold water take our heat away from us much faster rate than just air temperature. So people think it just happens because of air temperature, usually it’s cold water and dampness next to our skin that causes an increase in hypothermia.”
Of course, in northern BC we are forced to spend time in the cold weather, whether we like it or not. So dressing appropriately is a biggy for this time of year. We spoke with Shane Hoehn, Owner of Stride and Glide Sports in PG and he gave us some tips, “you want to make sure you’re wearing things that are going to keep you dry and they’re going to wick moisture and pull them away from your skin. So if you’re wearing things like cotton that like moisture but don’t wick it , it’s going to keep you wet and cold.” He also mentioned wearing a wind breaker, in order to block off any potential wind in an attempt to keep you warm.
