Winter Safety Tips for Those with Critical Care Concerns

With winter upon us, it is important to learn how to stay safe. Winter weather can be dangerous for anyone; however, it is a little more dangerous for those with critical care concerns as well as the elderly. There are however, a multitude of ways in which you can implement into your life to stay that much safer this season. If you are interested in learning these tips, continue reading. 

Dress in Warm Clothing

One of the best ways to stay warm during the winter is to dress in warm layers. Choose loose, lightweight clothing as it will keep you the warmest. Avoid cotton clothing as it does not have any insulating properties, therefore, not keeping you as warm as possible. Also, we lose most of our heat through our heads and hands so making sure to wear a hat and gloves are important. Finally, a good pair of boots and wool socks is a great investment as it will make sure your feet stay warm and dry during the winter. A good pair of boots will also decrease your risk of falling as they should have grips on them that will easily grip to the ice ensuring you stay on your feet. 

Closely Monitor Your Physical Health 

People with critical care concerns and the elderly often have an increased risk of developing a health problem during the winter months including frostbite and hypothermia. Therefore, it is important to keep an eye on your physical health during this time. Some tips to help you stay healthy can include always wearing sunscreen when going outside to avoid sunburn from the sun's reflection from the snow, drinking lots of water to avoid dehydration as it can make you colder and can dry out your skin. Also, apply petroleum jelly to exposed skin to add moisture and avoid chapping as well as setting your thermostat to 68 degrees to help avoid hypothermia. 

Prepare Your Vehicle in Case You Have to Travel 

While avoiding travel all together is the winter is the best idea, sometimes you cannot escape it. Therefore, it is important have your car prepared for driving. Having an emergency kit including extra winter clothing, blankets, full charged cell phone, snow shovel, ice scraper, water, nutritious snacks, flashlight, extra batteries for assistive devices, fares, jumper cables, a spare tire and jack as well as a first aid kit will make it so if your car breaks down or you get stranded somewhere you will have what you will need until help arrives. 

You should also make sure your car is prepared for winter before it gets too bad outside. This includes putting on snow tires, switching to cold weather windshield wiper fluid and adding a steering wheel cover. If you budget allows it, you might also want to look into getting seat warmers and a remote car starter. 

Fully Stock Your Home Emergency Kit

Another great tip for winter safety would be to make sure that you have a fully stocked home emergency kit. This kit should include non-perishable food, bottled water, extra winter clothing, blankets, table salt, sand or cat litter as well as a snow shovel and a first aid kit. If your medical equipment requires electricity, it might be a good idea to have a backup power source such as a portable generator in the event that the power goes out. If you rely on battery operated devices, make sure that you have all of your batteries fully charged. Also, making sure that all your prescriptions, if you have any, are filled ahead of time is a great idea in case you are unable to leave your home for any reason. 

Have an Emergency Plan in Place

Finally, for those with disabilities, having a comprehensive emergency plan in place can be a good idea this winter. A few important ways you can create and prepare your emergency plan include creating an updated list of all emergency contacts with names, phone numbers and addresses to make it easy if anyone should need to use it or to determine how you will communicate with your primary care physician if you need remote care or prescription refills. Other ways to make sure you have the best emergency plan can be to create a detailed list of the medications that you are currently taking and any medical devices that you use or to find out your providers emergency plan if you receive regular medical treatments. 

Although winter can be a dangerous time even if you do not have a disability is does not have to be. Take these tips with you as you head into winter so you can remain as safe is possible. If you have any further questions on how you can stay safe, contact us today!