Your tax dollars at work (well, Alaskans', but I'm sure there's a federal grant buried in the snow here somewhere)
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happy shopper in anchorage
Shocker: Homeless Alaskans More Likely to Suffer Cold-Related Injuries. Who Knew?
Ward Clark, RedState:
Cold exposure injuries like frostbite and hypothermia are eight times more common for unhoused people in Alaska than those with secure housing, according to recent research by the Alaska division of epidemiology.
Riley Fitting, an epidemiologist with the state, said cold exposure injuries can be serious.
“Just because we’re in Alaska and we’re hearty, and we understand the winter, and we know things are cold, but we still go out and do things in the cold, it’s important to realize that not everybody can warm up,” Fitting said. “And if we can’t warm up, we’re at much higher risks of these lasting health outcomes.”
He said about a quarter of cold exposure injuries were caused directly because people were unhoused. He also said the rate of cold injuries for unhoused people has increased over the past several years, likely because of recent harsh winters.* But in harsh winters, people with homes aren’t similarly at higher risk of cold-induced injury.
Clark:
So, people sleeping on the sidewalks of Anchorage, Alaska, are more likely to suffer from cold exposure injuries than people who sleep indoors, in a bed, under blankets? Gotcha. I never would have figured that out if an epidemiologist with the state of Alaska had not helpfully informed me. Heck, do you suppose this is true in other places? Could it be true that people sleeping on sidewalks or in doorways are more likely to suffer from exposure than people who sleep indoors?
*So we can expect global warming to fix this by, say, 2028? That’s great news (CF)
