- Some people in our neighborhoods work outside every single day.
- Experts at UM Health Sparrow say staying hydrated can help reduce the risk of Hypothermia.
- Video shows what city workers in Mason do to stay warm on extreme cold days.
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
"We do a lot of snow plowing right now, salting the streets," said Roger Pfannenschmid.
Pfannenschmid told me he works outside every single day. He's the foreman of the Mason Department of Public Works.
"Things start to break when the weather gets freezing."
Driving around my neighborhood of Mason day-to-day, I see Pfannenschmid's crews while they're on the job. So I know they work in all kinds of weather.
I wanted to know what Pfannenschmid does to try to stay warm in weather like this.
"A lot of times, the more you're moving around, the warmer you get," he said.
But he told me not every outside job is one that can keep someone moving—some are just standing in one place. Which is why he says wearing layers is important.
"We do have heaters in our trailers."
I wanted to see what doctors were saying, so I went over to UM Health Sparrow, where Dr. Gustavo Tataje told me those working outside need to stay hydrated.
"Cold weather causes you to lose hydration. So, aim to keep 60 to 80 ounces a day," said Tataje.
He says staying hydrated can help protect against hypothermia and even frostbite, which he told me can happen fast with weather as cold as we’re seeing now.
"It can happen within five to ten minutes. Very quickly, very rapid."
Ultimately, he says during temperatures like this, it’s best to avoid going outside entirely.
"If you're going to be outside, you have to plan not to be outside. That is the main goal," Tataje said.
But that’s not possible for some neighbors like Pfannenschmid, "We try to stay out of the weather as best as we can when it's like this, but if something breaks, the snow needs to be plowed, we're the people that need to be out there to do it."
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