H. Jack's on Cleveland.com - Northeast Ohio contends with slick ice, injuries and burst pipes amid frigid temps
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Much of Northeast Ohio hunkered under blankets during this week’s cold snap, but those who braved single-digit temperatures and wind chill were subject to falls and frostbite.
“We’ve seen some people running out of their inhalers at home and their asthma acting up,” Wellock said.
The Cleveland Clinic’s emergency department has seen “a fair number” of patients who fell on ice, some resulting in broken bones or other serious injuries, but no patients with frostbite or hypothermia, the health system said.
MetroHealth saw motor vehicle accidents, injuries from falls and respiratory illnesses.
The University Hospitals emergency department said it had not seen a spike in cold-related injuries, and the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner said there were no deaths this week related to the extreme cold.
But the danger posed by low temperatures is still there.
“The extremely cold weather we’re seeing across Northeast Ohio can cause an increase in weather related injuries and illness,” said Dr. Robert Hughes, an emergency medicine physician at UH.
“Even minimal time outside can cause risk of injury when the temperature drops this low,” Hughes said. “When the wind picks up the effective temperature drops, which means you can have onset of cold related illness and injury in just a couple of minutes, as fast as less than 15 minutes if the windchill gets down to near -20 degrees. Touching a metal surface at 5 degrees, you can get frostbite in seconds.”
The frigid weather also took a toll on homes, with Cleveland-area plumbers reporting a significant uptick in burst pipes.
Cold-related health issues can affect anyone, but some people are at higher risk than others, according to Summit County Public Health. The elderly, the very young, those who work outside, those with chronic medical conditions and those who drink alcohol or use illicit drugs are at risk for health problems caused by extreme cold.
With temperatures well below freezing, Northeast Ohio plumbers have also had their work cut out for them.
John Langer, president of H. Jack’s Plumbing and Heating, said most of their calls have been about frozen pipes, as well as broken-down furnaces and boilers.
“Those calls have gone on throughout the entire night and have carried over into today,” Langer told cleveland.com on Wednesday.
Langer added that this has been the “busiest spike” in those types of calls “in the last several years.”
Here are some tips to keep yourself, and your home, safe in the cold.
Hypothermia and injury precautions
In extreme cold temperatures, try to stay indoors. If you must go outside, dress properly and know the signs and symptoms of hypothermia and frostbite.
Here are tips for staying safe in very cold weather from Summit County Public Health and Summa Health.
Hypothermia is caused by prolonged exposure to extremely cold temperatures, but can also happen at cool temperatures, if a person is wet and becomes chilled, health experts said.
Warning signs of hypothermia include shivering, slurred speech or mumbling, clumsiness or lack of coordination, drowsiness or low energy, confusion, loss of consciousness, slow shallow breathing or weak pulse.
If someone has a temperature less than 95 degrees, they should call 911 and come into the hospital for rewarming and assessment.
Warning signs of frostbite include numbness and a red, white, bluish or grayish skin color. Skin will start to look hard or waxy. In severe cases, you can see blistering after rewarming the skin. People can also experience clumsiness due to joint and muscle stiffness from frostbite. Summa said.
Most people are unaware of frostbite because frozen tissue is numb, so recognizing the early warning signs is very important.
Warning signs of frostbite include redness or pain in any skin area; white or grayish-yellow skin area; skin that feels unusually firm or waxy, and numbness.
If a person is experiencing frostbite or hypothermia, they should seek medical attention as soon as possible, and move into a warm room or shelter. Wet clothing ought to be removed quickly, and the person should be warmed up under layers of dry blankets and clothing.
Areas affected by frostbite should be placed in warm – but not hot – water. Those areas should not be rubbed or massaged, and avoid walking on frostbitten toes or feet unless necessary.
Protecting pipes
To prevent costly plumbing issues because of frozen pipes, the American Red Cross suggests opening kitchen and bathroom cabinet doors to help warmer air circulate around the plumbing.
Keep cold water dripping from faucets with exposed pipes, which can help prevent freezing.
Langer suggested making sure there are no drafts in the basement, because that can freeze pipes quickly. Make sure that the water is shut off to outside hose faucets so they can drain, he said.
For people that are currently dealing with frozen pipes, Langer said his best piece of advice is to not wait for the pipes to thaw.
“In a lot of cases, when those pipes freeze, they expand and it can cause a split in the pipe,” he said. “If you haven’t made the repair proactively, it could cause a very significant flooding situation.”
To thaw frozen pipes, the Red Cross said people should leave the faucet open while warming the pipe with a hair dryer, or a portable space heater (away from flammable materials), or by wrapping the pipes with towels soaked in hot water. Do not use open-flame devices to warm the pipes.
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https://www.cleveland.com/news/2025/01/northeast-ohio-contends-with-slick-ice-injuries-and-burst-pipes-amid-frigid-temps.html