As temperatures plunge with the onset of winter, health officials warn students to take proper precautions to prevent such dangers as hypothermia and frostbite.
Students should be especially careful to dress properly when exercising outdoors, Assistant Athletic Trainer Linda Zoller-McIbbin said.
"We always stress the wearing of multiple layers of clothing," she said. "That includes hats or a hood and mittens. Lycra tights are good for when it first gets cold, but below 25 degrees you need some kind of a windshield as well, such as wind pants and a shell."
Dr. Norman Yanofsky, emergency department director at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center said students should be careful walking home from parties where they have been drinking.
"Alcohol can be bad news because it causes you to radiate heat at a tremendous rate," he said.
"Someone [who is drunk] doesn't perceive the cold and they also don't shiver as effectively and thus don't stay as warm," he said.
According to Yanofsky, the sensation of feeling warm when intoxicated is caused by blood being pumped to the outer layers of the skin, which creates a flushed appearance and results in a greater loss of heat.
Warning signs of hypothermia include such mundane symptoms such as shivering and slowed speech. Advanced symptoms include a dangerously lowered heart rate and breathing and decreased awareness.
Hypothermia is not just a danger to intoxicated people. Skiers, hikers, joggers - anyone out of doors during the frigid winter months - can be affected by hypothermia and frostbite, another winter health danger.
Frostbitten skin appears as white splotches in exposed areas and should be treated immediately, Yanofsky said.
"The best treatment is to fill a basin of water heated to about 105 degrees Fahrenheit and submerge the affected areas," Yanofsky said. "Don't rub the skin - that only causes further damage."
