KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Doctors in the metro are warning people to take these cold temperatures seriously. They've seen more than a dozen cold exposure-related injuries.
The University of Kansas Hospitals' burn unit has been busy. It's recorded cold exposure patients since the first of the year. Claude Blacksure went to the emergency room after walking from a friend's house on New Year's Eve. He was walking in the cold for nearly 2 hours.
"When I put my hand in my pocket, it felt like it wasn't doing nothing," said Blacksure
On New Year's Day, his left hand was blistered and throbbing with pain.
"It kept blistering and then it started changing colors," said Black
Dhaval Bhavsar is the co-director of the burn center at the University of Kansas Hospital. He said due to the New Year's holiday, they expected to see an increase in patients exposed to extremely cold temperatures.
"With the cold that we have, even exposure of 15 minutes or 20 minutes can lead to really bad injury. Ice crystals start forming in the tissue. Blood vessels get slowed down or calm down and when tissue doesn't get oxygen for a long time, it will gradually die," said Bhavsar.
Truman Medical Center treated 16 patients for cold weather exposure since Dec. 27. Doctors encourage everyone to layer up and cover up.
