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U.S. NEWS Saturday 2 February 2019
Human toll of cold: more than 2 dozen dead, hundreds hurt

By STEVE KARNOWSKI and for other reasons, as well as head and other possible
TAMMY WEBBER those who just did not think injuries.
Associated Press they could get frostbitten In just a two-day period,
CHICAGO (AP) — The dan- so quickly and went out- Tuesday and Wednesday,
gerous cold and heavy side without gloves or other Mercyhealth in Rockford
snow that hobbled the protective gear. treated 15 people for bro-
northern U.S. this week Several required "maxi- ken bones from falling on
has retreated, but not be- mal treatment," admission the ice, 10 people who
fore exacting a human to the hospital's burn unit were in car crashes caused
toll: more than two dozen for therapies that include by snow and eight people
weather-related deaths in drugs to restore circulation who complained of chest
eight states and hundreds to try to avoid amputations. pain or shortness of breath
of injuries, including frost- Some of them will probably from shoveling snow, hospi-
bite, broken bones, heart still require amputations, tal officials said.
attacks and carbon mon- a decision usually made Rockford broke recorded In this Jan 30, 2019, file photo, a firefighter walks past an ice-en-
oxide poisoning. by burn doctors four to 10 a record low of minus 31 crusted home after an early morning house fire in St. Paul, Minn.
In Illinois alone, hospitals days after the injury. degrees Thursday, but the Associated Press
reported more than 220 Many people decided to hospital only treated two
cases of frostbite and hy- stay home even when they cases of frostbite, emer- indoors or bundling up, he North Dakota, the temper-
pothermia since Tuesday, were sick to avoid slippery gency physician Dr. John said. ature in Dickinson climbed
when the polar vortex roads and subzero tem- Pakiela said. By Friday, the deep freeze above freezing (0 Celsius)
moved in and overnight peratures. In western Michi- "It was Antarctica there for had mostly abated, with by midmorning — a jump
temperatures plunged to gan, a health care system's a few days ... but I think temperatures climbing as of nearly 60 degrees com-
minus 30 (minus 34 Celsius) online service saw a major people listened to profes- high as the low 20s (minus pared with Tuesday's low of
or lower — with wind chills spike this week. sional advice and heeded 5 or 6 Celsius) in Minneapo- minus 17 degrees (minus 27
of minus 50 (minus 45 Cel- More than 400 people over warnings," about staying lis and Chicago. In western Celsius).q
sius) or worse in some areas. four days used Spectrum
Hennepin Healthcare in Health's MedNow to see a
Minneapolis normally sees nurse practitioner or a phy-
around 30 frostbite patients sician's assistant about non-
in an entire winter. It admit- emergency issues, such as
ted 18 in the past week, aches, rashes, cold and flu,
spokeswoman Christine Hill said Joe Brennan, MedNow
said Friday. senior director. Most used
"I definitely saw more frost- an app on their phone. The
bite than I've ever seen in usual four-day volume is
my entire career just in the 250.
last three days," said Dr. An- "We had soreness-and-
drea Rowland-Fischer, an sickness calls from people
emergency department who were shoveling 2 ½
physician at Hennepin feet of snow," Brennan said.
Healthcare. "Instead of going to urgent
Most of those patients, she care or an emergency de-
said, had underlying prob- partment, they had an op-
lems that made it difficult tion to stay at home."
for them to take care of Another danger was from
themselves: the develop- carbon monoxide. A family
mentally delayed, the men- of nine in Wheeling, Illinois,
tally ill, the very young and about 30 miles northwest of
the very old. They also in- Chicago, was taken to lo-
cluded people with injuries cal hospitals after heating
related to drugs and alco- their home with a charcoal
hol — people who passed grill. In Rockford, Illinois, four
out or did not realize they people were treated be-
were cold or injured. cause they had warmed
"It's heartbreaking when up cars in a closed garage
there are people who can't or because a furnace vent
take care of themselves became blocked by ice
and get exposed, just be- and snow.
cause they either escape The snow that accompa-
from the care that they're nied the cold also caused
being given or because problems.
they're not being super- In Raymond, New Hamp-
vised." shire, the driver of a state
Others got frostbite on Department of Transporta-
their way to work after be- tion vehicle was struck in
ing exposed to the cold the head Thursday after ice
for a short time, often on and snow flew off a truck
their hands, feet, ears and ahead and broke through
face. That included people the windshield.
whose cars would not start The driver was hospitalized
or who got stuck outside with a laceration to the