The week promises to be very cold in France with, in some places, negative temperatures. Babies, the elderly and the homeless are the people most at risk.
A few days after Christmas, a thick white mass begins to cover part of France and a great cold wave has already invaded the country. But if winter rhymes with sumptuous landscapes and ski holidays, it also rhymes with caution. The extreme cold can indeed lead to deleterious consequences for health.
Most vulnerable infants and seniors
For example, drops in temperature can cause hypothermia, frostbite and worsening cardiovascular risks. For respiratory disorders in particular, dry cold promotes asthma attacks, while damp cold induces more bronchopulmonary infections.
Important precision, we often speak of very cold when the temperature is below 0 degrees. But in reality, “extreme cold” is only a pure concept since it depends above all on the way in which each individual feels the cold.
As such, an infant or an elderly person is less able to resist the cold. People with fragile health, such as patients suffering from chronic cardiovascular and respiratory pathologies or diabetes, must also be vigilant in periods of extreme cold.
Stay warm as much as possible
For these people, it is therefore recommended to protect themselves effectively and in time. This is based, among other things, on information systems, developed by each city within the framework of “Extreme Cold” plans which recall all the main gestures to adopt so as not to suffer too much from the cold. Among them, go out with warm clothes and cover the ends: gloves, hat, socks.
In addition, you must heat your home while ventilating it once a day.
And at work, it is necessary to equip oneself with weatherproof clothing, especially if it is an outdoor job.
Finally, for the elderly and children, it is recommended to leave their home as little as possible, ideally kept at a heat of 19 ° and to eat well, especially at breakfast, just like people with diabetes and cardiovascular disorders.
31,000 children sleep in the streets
To conclude, it should also be remembered that people in a very precarious situation are also exposed to great risks. This is the case of the homeless. In France, more than 70% of the 1,500 calls made every day to 115 (SAMU) mention the situation of homeless people every year in France.
Worse still, since 2001, the number of homeless people in France has increased by 44% and now stands at 81,000. Among them, there are 31,000 children. An incomplete figure since it does not include people who do not go to accommodation or catering services or those who live in municipalities with less than 20,000 inhabitants.
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