Hypothermia Recap and Resources

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Hypothermia Recap and Resources

Take Home Points

  • DC’s Cold Emergency Plan goes into effect when temp+windchill drops to 15F or 20F with any meteorological event (ex. snow)
  • The plan includes emergency warming shelter and transportation to warming shelters (DC Shelter Hotline: (202) 399-7093 or 311)
  • Be prepared to manage hypothermia during the colder months as temps in DC rarely reach below 30F on average during Winter months

Michael West, one of my favorite senior residents (back when he was a PGY-4), wrote an incredible review article on the management of hypothermia with a particular focus on severe hypothermia with and without a pulse. I regularly find myself going back to this article in preparation for the Winter months, and I suggest you do the same:

CHILL OUT, BRO!: ED Management of Hypothermia​1​

But what happens when you’ve completed your workup and warmed a patient back up to normothermic and they are ready to be discharged? Are there any resources available for our patients who are undomiciled? This depends on the outside temperature/conditions – in DC the Department of Human Services (DHS), in collaboration with the District of Columbia Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency (HSEMA) enacts a “Cold Emergency Alert/Plan”​2​. This plan goes into effect when either:

  • Temperature and windchill combined are 15°F or lower
  • Temperature and windchill combined are 20°F or lower with accompanying meteorological event such as snow

Based on prior weather data, DC’s temperatures can reach 20°F (though they rarely dip below that) – when this happens the Cold Emergency Alert/Plan enacts the following:

  • Open/Access to Low-Barrier, Hypothermia, and Overflow Emergency Shelters
  • Access to Overnight Warming Sites (usually 1900-0700)
  • Transportation to these shelters/sites via the DC Shelter Hotline: (202) 399-7093 or 311 (Include the time, the address or location of the sighting, and a description of the person’s appearance)

Finally, here is a list from the DC DOH website of the low-barrier emergency shelters (feel free to copy and paste into your discharge instructions):

Shelters for Women

  • Adams Place Day Center at 2210 Adams Place NE
  • Community for Creative Non-violence (CCNV) at 425 2nd Street NW
  • Sherwood Recreation Center at 640 10th Street NE
  • Harriet Tubman Shelter at 1900 Massachusetts Avenue SE #27
  • St. Josephine Bahkita at 6010 Georgia Avenue NW
  • Patricia Handy Place for Women at 1009 11th Street NW

Shelters for Men

  • Community for Creative Non-violence (CCNV) at 425 2nd Street NW
  • Church of Epiphany at 1317 G Street NW
  • Salvation Army at 3335 Sherman Avenue NW
  • 801 East Shelter at 2722 Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue SE
  • Adams Place Shelter at 2210 Adams Place NE
  • New York Avenue Shelter at 1355-57 New York Avenue NE
  • Patricia Handy Legacy at 810 5th Street NW
  • Trinidad Recreation Center at 1310 Childress Street SE

Shelter for LGBTQ+

  • Living Life Alternative at 400 50th Street SE

Youth Hypothermia Sites (ages 18-24)

  • Safe Haven at 4900 Quarles Street SE
  • SHINE (LGBTQ+) at 4904 Quarles Street NE
  • The Sanctuary at 511 Mellon Street SE

Authors

  • Arman is a third year EM resident and was raised by the likes of the EM Clerkship podcast, EMCrit, ER Cast, and EMRAP. His primary interests include FOAM and medical education and he does not enjoy writing in the third person.

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  • Mike is an EM Attending at INOVA Fairfax Hospital and a Clinical Instructor at GW. In his free time he obsesses over his cats as well as how to write biographical blurbs without sounding ridiculous.

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Cite this post: Arman Hussain. “Hypothermia Recap and Resources”. GW EM Blog. 11/1/2023. Available at: https://gwemblog.com/hypothermia-resources.

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References

    1. 1.
      West M. CHILL OUT, BRO!: ED Management of Hypothermia. GW EM Blog. Published July 1, 2023. Accessed July 1, 2023. https://gwemblog.com/hypothermia/
    2. 2.
      Warming Centers and Facilities. District of Columbia Snow Team. Accessed July 1, 2023. https://snow.dc.gov/service/warming-centers-and-facilities