ADVISORY: Extreme Cold Weather Precautions
For Immediate Release:
1/23/2011 9:27 am
Worcester, MA (January 22, 2011) - As we enter the period of extreme cold weather, residents are urged to use the below list of precautions and tools. If you or someone you know in Worcester is without heat, there are a number of resources available to assist you. For general heat related questions, you can call Mass 2-1-1. If you have no heat, please call the City's Customer Service Center at (508) 929-1300 and an Inspector will return your call. In the case of frozen pipes, health issues caused by the cold or other emergencies, call 911 immediately.
- Be aware of the weather conditions by monitoring the media.
- Minimize outside activities, particularly the elderly and very young. Also consider your pets.
- Dress in several layers of loose-fitting, lightweight clothing, rather than a single layer of heavy clothing. Outer garments should be tightly woven and water repellent. Wear hat, mittens and sturdy waterproof boots, protecting your extremities, such as fingers, toes, ear lobes or the tip of the nose. If symptoms are detected (loss of feeling and a pale appearance), seek medical help immediately. Slowly rewarm the affected areas as you await medical assistance. Excessive exposure can lead to frostbite, which is damaging to body tissue that is frozen.
- Hypothermia can occur in extreme cases. The warning signs are uncontrollable shivering, memory loss, disorientation, incoherence, slurred speech, drowsiness and apparent exhaustion. If the person's temperature drops below 95 degrees, seek immediate medical care. If medical assistance is not available, slowly warm up the person, body core first, wrapping them in a blanket or using your own body heat. Do not warm the extremities first, for this drives the cold blood towards the heart and can lead to heart failure. Do not give the person alcohol! Warm liquids are best i.e. coffee, tea or any warm food or beverage.
- Ensure you have sufficient heating fuel, as well as emergency heating equipment in case you lose electricity.
- When utilizing alternate heating sources, such as your fireplace, wood stove, or space heater, take the necessary safety precautions. Keep a fire extinguisher handy, ensuring everyone knows how to use it properly. Test smoke alarms.
- If you lose your heat, seal off unused rooms by stuffing towels in the cracks under the doors. At night, cover windows with extra blankets or sheets. Food provides the body with energy for producing its own heat.
- If pipes freeze, remove insulation, completely open all faucets and pour hot water over the pipes or wrap them with towels soaked in hot water, starting where they are most exposed to the cold. A hand-held hair dryer, used with caution, also works well.
- Check with elderly or disabled relatives and neighbors to ensure their safety.
- Allow a trickle of hot and cold water to run from a faucet that is farthest from your water meter or one that has frozen in the past. This will keep water moving so that it cannot freeze. Learn how to shut off your water if a pipe bursts.
- Have a well-stocked Winter Home Emergency supply kit that includes flashlights, portable radio, extra batteries, a first aid kit, bottled water and non-perishable food.
- Make sure your car is properly winterized. Keep the gas tank at least half-full. Carry a Winter Survival kit in the trunk including blankets, extra clothing, flashlight with spare batteries, a can and waterproof matches (to melt snow for drinking water), non-perishable foods, windshields scraper, shovel, sand tow rope and jumper cables.
The Worcester Emergency Management Department is the City agency responsible for coordinating local, voluntary and private resources during emergencies and disasters in Worcester. The department provides leadership to: (1) develop and maintain a Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan, (2) prepare plans to mitigate, prepare, respond and recover in emergency situations, both natural and man-made. Additional information is available at: www.WorcesterMA.gov using the links to Departments, to Emergency Communications, to Emergency Management (Natural and Man-Made Disasters).
