Extremely cold weather has swept through the nation this past week which make some think about whether they might “freeze to death.”
Our bodies are pretty amazing… they are built to protect us from almost anything, including extremely cold weather.
Foxnews.com provides: two tricks our bodies perform to keep from freezing to death:
- Vasoconstriction moves blood away from the outer extremities aka insulation
- Shivering- when skin temperatures start to fall the body shivers to create warmth. If it is light shivering that means the outer temperatures have fallen. When major shivering occurs this means the core temperature has dropped significantly (almost a warning sign before the serious damages begins).
A few winter warnings about your body:
- Low body temperature creates hypothermia.
- Body loses heat 25 times faster in the water vs the air
- 95 degree body temperature= mild hypothermia
- 91 degree body temperature= amnesia
- 82 degree body temperature= loss of consciousness
- 70 degree & below body temperature= major hypothermia & death can occur
- Record temperature 56.7 degrees after person was plunged in icy, cold water
- Fingers, toes, nose and ears are subject to frostbite easily in bitterly cold temperatures.
According to Michael Sawka, chief of the Thermal & Mountain Medicine Division at USARIEM, “as you start dropping [in temperature], bad things happen.”
Before outings in the bitter cold, watch the news for winter storms, make sure you keep a cell phone with you to call for help if needed and dress warmly.
Need a doctor? Find one near your home.
