ST. LOUIS — "We've had several people that have had severe exposures to cold, with very low temperatures," explains Dr. Craig Krausz with St. Louis University Hospital's Emergency Unit.
The threshold for hypothermia is 95 degrees. In the first 20 days of 2020, Dr. Krausz has seen some extreme cases.
"My lowest temperature this year has been 79 degrees, body temperature," Dr. Krausz said.
Many patients admitted to the SLU emergency department are homeless.
Krausz said those cases have been severe frostbite and cold-related extremity injuries.
The signs of frostbite include intense finger, toe and nose pain. Dr. Krausz said it's best to warm up by running limbs under warm water or using warming blankets. If those treatments fail, Dr. Krausz said it's time to see a doctor.
Hypothermia and frostbite are not the only cold weather problems SLU's Emergency Department has treated.
"We do see a decent amount of people that have been falling on the ice," Dr. Krausz explained.
Most doctors will tell you to be careful around ice, but Dr. Fahd Ahmad at St. Louis Children's Hospital is asking kids to be careful about something else.
"I would say be very careful about licking poles that are frozen so your tongue doesn't get stuck.," Dr. Ahmad tells 5 On Your Side, "That's always uncomfortable."
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