According to many U.S. media sources, home heating fuel costs are expected to rise this year anywhere from 20 to 30 percent from last year. Whether it's gas or oil, the price of home heating fuel today is almost double the average price it was in 2001, and increases in this estimate are expected while many Gulf refineries remain inoperable.
In addition, many charitable groups and advocacy organizations are warning that requests for financial assistance are projected to be far above last year's volume, while available funds are frozen at last year's amounts.
Unfortunately, because of already limited finances and restrictions for heating assistance eligibility, many elderly Americans will be forced to dial down their thermostats in order to save money.
Many are already juggling their budgets to pay for necessary drugs and food, often choosing between eating properly and purchasing all of their prescribed medications. Adding the burden of high heating costs to the equation can only enhance the risk for unsafe decision making.
Etiology
For many of us, conserving home heating fuel typically means tolerating slightly chilly temperatures in the home, where donning an extra sweater or adding extra blankets to the bed will do. However, for the elderly, it could bring serious health implications, including hypothermia.
It only takes a slight drop in a home's temperature to impact the health of an elderly adult. In fact, hypothermia can occur even in mildly cold weather, when air temperatures are in the 60-to-65-degree range. As the body ages, it produces less heat and it becomes more difficult to regulate the body's temperature. This occurs because the heart rate slows, blood vessels no longer contract as well, and muscle tone and body fat have been lost. Moreover, the signs of hypothermia are subtle and slow, making it especially difficult for elderly adults or their caregivers to recognize.
Hypothermia most often occurs when the body's temperature gradually drops from 98.6 degrees to below 97.5 degrees, and can lead to dehydration, confusion and an irregular heart beat. If left untreated, it may result in coma or even death.
The Merck Manual of Geriatrics reports that "in the USA, about 75,000 'excess winter deaths' occur among the elderly, including deaths from hypothermia and deaths associated with many other winter risks, such as influenza and pneumonia. Among identified cases of hypothermia, the mortality rate is 50 percent. Of persons with hypothermia, those over 75 years are five times more likely to die than those under 75 years."
Risk Factors
●Risk factors for hypothermia in the elderly include reduced physical activity, immobility, dementia, malnutrition, and many commonly used drugs.
●Elderly patients may not recognize that they are cold and may not shiver. Symptoms may be nonspecific, so, again, the diagnosis is easily missed.
●Elderly patients with hypothermia require more extensive routine laboratory testing than younger patients.
●In stable elderly patients with hypothermia, warming should proceed slowly. Treatment for unstable elderly patients is the same as that for younger patients.
●Elderly patients undergoing surgery require special precautions to prevent hypothermia.
Prevention
Hypothermia is a devastating but potentially avoidable condition, making public awareness and education the basis for prevention. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends creating a winter survival kit for indoor safety, including nonperishable food, blankets, a first aid kit, water and necessary medications. Other measures, such as weather stripping and insulated doors, are important, especially for elderly persons.
To prevent hypothermia while indoors, elderly people should keep room temperatures at about 70 degrees. Room temperature should be checked daily with a reliable thermometer separate from the thermostat, especially during severely cold weather. Extra clothing, particularly for hands, feet, and head, should be worn indoors, and extra layers of linen added to the bed will help conserve endogenous heat loss, especially during the nighttime and early morning hours. Sufficient caloric intake and, if possible, exercise will help sustain heat production as well.
Shivering, which can accompany hypothermia, should be prevented if possible. As a result, it increases the body's oxygen and glucose (sugar) consumption. If the body's oxygen and glucose demand exceeds supply, respiratory, circulatory and neurological changes occur, and elderly patients may be unable to adequately compensate for these changes. Again, appropriate dress to meet or exceed the temperature while in the home is paramount.
Treatment
Mild hypothermia can be treated by passively warming the affected person. Wet clothing should be removed and replaced with dry, warm clothing and blankets. Other techniques include using hot-water bottles, warm baths, or heat packs placed under the arms and on the chest, neck and groin. Use caution when using hot-water bottles and heat packs. When placed directly on the skin, these applications may easily cause burns because the blood circulation in the cold skin of the elderly is usually poor.
While in the ambulance, emergency medical technicians will use warm intravenous fluids as well as employing strategies like those listed above. In the hospital setting, the person may be wrapped with blankets in a warm room or put into a large tub of warm water.
Conclusion
Hypothermia prevention and awareness programs should focus on elderly persons at risk to hypothermia and those likely to be exposed to unusually cold environments. Individuals caring for the elderly should be keenly aware of hypothermia's signs and symptoms, and elderly persons living alone should be visited often. Enrollment in organized home-heating assistance programs may also help prevent hypothermia in the elderly.
For more information: The Merck Manuel, Chapter 67: www.merck.com
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: www.cdc/gov
If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.
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Shawn another good article. Read ya in another week and thanks.
Thanks for this article I found it to be very informative especially since my mother is getting older and I have a 95yr old grandmother. I will make sure when they visit my heat is on!!
Lanesborough Town Meeting to Vote Budget, Bylaws & Vehicle Purchases
By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — Tuesday's annual town meeting includes a $14 million operating budget, new short-term rentals, accessory dwelling units and sign bylaws, and free cash article appropriations.
Voters will gather at Lanesborough Elementary School on June 9 at 6 p.m. to decide on 20 warrant articles.
The fiscal 2027 budget is up a little over 10 percent. Some of the main increases are the Mount Greylock Regional School District and McCann Technical School: the McCann assessment is up more than 30 percent based on factors including enrollment and the school renovation project, and Mount Greylock's is up 11 percent.
Article 11 is for the town to vote to approve from free cash the sum of $16,298.48 for the McCann Technical School roof and window replacement project so as not to impact the budget. Article 3 is appropriate $7,586,284 for Mount Greylock Regional School assessment.
Another notable increase was in life and health insurance, showing an increase of about 26 percent.
Ambulance Director Jen Weber is planning 24-hour coverage, which means more staff and a hike in her budget. One of the articles asks the town to appropriate $234,100 to operate the Ambulance Enterprise Fund for salaries and expenses.
Many town departments are looking for new vehicles. The Fire Department is looking to replace its outdated 1996 fire engine. There are two articles related to the truck at a total of $813,366. Article 12 would transfer $225,000 from free cash into the Fire Truck Stabilization Fund; Article 13 would transfer $605,000 from the fund and authorize the borrowing of $208,366.08.
The total includes a $100,000 contingency cost to cover any additional costs if a 2026 model-year chassis cannot be secured before new emissions standards go into effect in 2027.
The board at its last meeting moved the $225,000 transfer to come before the borrowing article, changing the stabilization number. If the $225,000 is not voted on, then they will amend the next article's number on the floor, subtracting the $225,000. This shows the borrowing number significantly lower.
Article 17 asks for the transfer of $80,000 from free cash to replace a police cruiser.
Police Chief Rob Derksen's aim is to replace one vehicle every other year, meaning the oldest vehicle gets replaced about every 10 years.
He stressed that if delayed this year, the town may have to double up in a future year to get back on schedule, and that paying later usually costs more. The article will ask for $80,000 from free cash, the vehicles used to be funded by the BHRD.
Lastly, the Highway Department is looking to replace a 2014 International dump truck that will be a total of $330,000 and will take two to three years to receive.
Money will be used from last year's approval of $250,000 from free cash for the replacement of a 2012 highway front-end loader that was underspent $49,261. Town meeting is being asked to approve a transfer of $53,274.85 from free cash and the use of $227,464 from funds from the Sale of Town Real Estate to fund the balance.
Other free cash proposals include $1,200 to purchase software to support tracking and ongoing maintenance schedules of town-owned vehicles; $42,000 for the replacement of the Highway Department's storage shed roof, $200,000 to reduce the tax levy.
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