Baby, it’s cold outside!
Well, if you are in Minnesota today – it is more than cold. Those citizens in my home state are in serious “weather lockdown” as the air hit 56 degrees below zero (windchill factored in). So they must stay inside, close curtains and drapes to help insulate the windows and keep pets indoors, too. And older persons are especially vulnerable to hypothermia. Here are some tips for them from the National Institutes of Health.
- Make sure your home is warm enough. Set the thermostat to at least 68 to 70 degrees. Even mildly cool homes with temperatures from 60 to 65 degrees can lead to hypothermia in older people.
- To stay warm at home, wear long underwear under your clothes, along with socks and slippers. Use a blanket or afghan to keep your legs and shoulders warm and wear a hat or cap indoors.
- When going outside in the cold, it is important to wear a hat, scarf, and gloves or mittens to prevent loss of body heat through your head and hands. A hat is particularly important because a large portion of body heat can be lost through the head. Wear several layers of warm loose clothing to help trap warm air between the layers.
- Check with your doctor to see if any prescription or over-the-counter medications you are taking may increase your risk for hypothermia.
As a Minnesota native, I learned my own weather guidelines as a child:
- Don’t lick anything – like a post on the playground because your tongue will stick and classmates will remember you for the rest of their lives. I still wonder why the sisters called the fire department when a simple cup of lukewarm water poured on the tongue/post intersection would have released Jimmy’s tongue.
- If you have to go potty, it is worth the trouble to go indoors and remove all those layers (see above).
- As a teen, never resort to long kissing sessions in a running car parked in a snowy area. Snow can block the exhaust pipe and cause carbon monoxide poisoning. Basement couches – a better option.
So, if you have family and friends in the polar vortex, call them and check on their well-being. When the fault lines rumble under your house, they will lovingly do the same.
(S-R archive photo: A Crow Wing County snowplow operator clears snow near Merrifield, Minn.)