You don’t have to actually freeze to death in order to die of cold.

And according to the Mayo Clinic, people who are dying of cold usually don’t realize it.

As sleet, snow or cold rainfall is expected in metro Atlanta on Friday amid freezing temperatures, Southerners who aren’t used to these conditions need to be careful to protect their skin.

Two things that can cause hypothermia are cold and moisture.

It’s not a night to go out boozing and get stalled outside. It’s not the time to stubbornly stick to a daily outdoor walk without proper winter wear. And anyone who is homeless should head to a warming center.

This storm will point out the quirks of what kind of weather is dangerous. You can be just fine properly bundled up against dry deeply freezing weather, said Dr. Daniel Wu, Grady Health System’s chief of emergency medicine. “Or you could be outside in shorts in the springtime, and it goes to 60, 50, 40 degrees, and you could die from hypothermia in those settings,” he said.

He expects to see hypothermia cases this weekend, as well as other emergency cases where the cold worsened a preexisting illness.

Hypothermia occurs when the body’s core temperature drops just to 95 degrees or lower: it’s losing more heat than it can take in. It is a medical emergency that means you’re dangerously cold. By some estimates, about 1,500 Americans die annually from cold-related deaths.

The first signs are when someone is uncontrollably shivering, he said, and breathing fast and feeling numbness. But those people can just be warmed up. What’s really concerning is when they’ve stopped shivering, are breathing slowly, and just feel cold and are confused or have lost consciousness.

To fight hypothermia in the stage when someone is just shivering and conscious, they can be brought inside and given dry warm clothes. If they’re losing consciousness or unconscious, that’s an emergency call.

Alcohol can be a factor because not only does it numb the mind, but it opens blood vessels wider so they have a harder time keeping the body warm.

Those especially at risk include the elderly and babies.

The body needs to stay warm for the nervous system, including the brain, and other systems to function right.

Above all, Wu said, don’t hang around outside and get wet. “One of the things that makes people lose heat very quickly is having cold clothing or wet clothing,” he said.

People going into hypothermia may find themselves with these symptoms:

•Shivering

•Slurred speech or mumbling

•Slow, shallow breathing

•A weak pulse

•Clumsiness or lack of coordination

•Drowsiness or very low energy

•Confusion or memory loss

•Loss of consciousness

•In infants, bright red, cold skin

Source: Mayo Clinic

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