WDET News
- Snow Cardiac Arrests
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Feb 10, 2010Metro Desk
Cardiac Arrests-Snow 2/10/10 Murphy
Injuries associated with heavy snowfall plague area emergency rooms. Increased muscle strains...slip and falls...frostbite...hypo-thermia and cardiac arrests become commonplace with severe weather conditions. Dr. Marc Rosenthal is the emergency medical services director at Grace-Sinai hospital in Detroit. He says people should be careful when clearing way snow from their homes.
"They are out shoveling snow its heavy snow. They put a lot on their heart and they suffer cardiac arrest. It can happen to healthy people but more often than not we see it in people with underlying health problems like heart disease...high blood pressure and diabetes."
Rosenthal says there are some things people can do to avoid these injuries. Layering clothing...keeping an eye out for ice on the ground...lifting snow shovels with your legs and giving yourself more driving time to avoid stress are just some.