The Healthy Geezer

FEATURE COLUMN

The Healthy Geezer

By Fred Cicetti

Q. I retired and moved from northern Minnesota to Florida. I was wondering if there is any way someone in the Sunshine State can get hypothermia. A. Hypothermia occurs when your body doesn’t maintain a normal temperature, which is about 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit. When your core temperature drops to 95 degrees, you are suffering from hypothermia, which can be lethal.

Can your internal temperature drop to 95 or below in Florida? Yes. You can get hypothermia in an air-conditioned environment. It can strike you if you are soaked in the rain on a cool, windy day, or if you fall into chilly water. Water colder than 70º F can begin to cause hypothermia quickly.

People older than 65 years are especially vulnerable to hypothermia because they tend to suffer from illnesses or take medications that interfere with regulating body temperature. Also, older adults often produce less body heat because of a slower metabolism and less physical activity.

Seniors make up about half of the annual fatalities from hypothermia in the United States.

Low body temperature impairs the brain, so hypothermia is especially dangerous because its victims may not know they’re in trouble. Severe hypothermia eventually leads to cardiac and respiratory failure, then death.

Hypothermia comes on gradually. Shivering is a common and obvious sign. Shivering is a natural response that increases muscle cell activity and generates heat, but shivering alone does not mean you have hypothermia. Healthcare professionals recommend looking for “umbles,” too. These are stumbles, mumbles, fumbles and grumbles.

Watch for these specific symptoms — confusion or sleepiness; slowed, slurred speech; shallow breathing; weak pulse or low blood pressure; changes in behavior such as apathy; change in appearance such as pale skin; poor body control or slow reaction times.

If you suspect someone has hypothermia, call for emergency medical treatment. Here are some first-aid tips to follow until professional help arrives:

• In general, try to warm the victim. Replace wet clothing. Share your body heat.

• First warm the chest, neck, head, and groin with an electric blanket or warm compresses. Don’t use direct heat from a lamp or hot water.

• Don’t warm the limbs because you will drive cold blood to the heart, lungs and brain; this will lower the core body temperature.

Use an electric blanket or warm compresses.

• If the person’s breathing has stopped or appears dangerously low or shallow, begin cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) immediately if you’re trained in that procedure.

• Provide warm non-alcoholic beverages. Alcohol lowers the body’s ability to retain heat. Forget that image of the St. Bernard with the brandy keg.

• Don’t rub the victim, especially an older person who may have thin skin.

• Handle people with hypothermia gently because they’re at risk of cardiac arrest.

A typical scenario that can lead to hypothermia is being stranded in the snow while driving. The following are some valuable recommendations for surviving this type of ordeal: • Attach something that is brightly colored to the car antenna so you can be seen.

• Wrap your entire body, including your head, in extra clothing, blankets, or newspapers. Stay awake.

• Run the motor (and heater) for about 10 minutes per hour, opening one window slightly to let in air. Make sure that snow is not blocking the exhaust pipe; this will reduce the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.

• As you sit, keep moving your arms and legs to improve your circulation and stay warmer.

• Do not eat unmelted snow because it will lower your body temperature.

BUSINESS PROFILE

Gray-New Gloucester Development Corporation offering forgivable loan for new business

The Gray-New Gloucester Development Corporation is issuing its third Grow GNG Business Challenge RFP. The three phase competition will ultimately select one business proposal to be funded by the program.

All businesses must be for-profit in nature and must meet other eligibility requirements: the proposals are required to be for new businesses in Gray or New Gloucester, but they can be of an existing outof-town business adding a location in one of the towns, additionally, there is a provision for a local existing business to expand with a new business concept.

One winner will be selected in the final phase of the competition and will receive up to a $10,000 forgivable loan and up to $7,000 of in-kind products and services to help the business get off the ground.

The 2018 recipient, Dr. Travis Dyer from Empower Chiropractic said, “The GNGDC contest allowed us to hit the ground running when we first started up our practice, allowed us opportunities for marketing we would not have had otherwise as well as connections in the local community.”

GNG Local is a promotional publication that highlights local annual events, tourist destinations and area businesses. The cash funding for the program is comprised of advertising revenue from the GNG Local magazines that the GNGDC has published since 2014.

Androscoggin Bank is also supporting the competition with a $5,000 grant. The selected business will be required to meet certain criteria during the first 3 years of operation, should those criteria be met, the loan will be forgiven.

For the competition, the GNGDC has established relationships with area landlords to help establish the in-kind portion of the package. The package will also include interior design and a full page ad in the 2020 issue of GNG Local Magazine.

The panel of judges for the competition will include a municipal official from both Gray and New Gloucester, a business owner from each of the two towns, a representative of Androscoggin Bank and members of the GNGDC. The three phases of the competition will take place through the summer and fall with the winner to be announced by late October. The contest rules require that the new business commence operation by May 20, 2020.

In many volunteer organizations, human resources are at a premium, and the GNGDC is no different, the organization currently has a few positions available and is actively seeking members with finance, legal, or computer expertise.

The GNGDC is a private, board driven, non-profit organization whose mission is to maximize economic potential of Gray and New Gloucester. For more information about Grow GNG or to learn more about membership with the GNGDC, visit the website at gngdc.com.

No matter what the season No matter what your reason

Humorist, storyteller & best-selling author John McDonald can provide the perfect program of Maine humor & stories for your next banquet, conference, convention or large family gathering.

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The Country Connection is published by Turner Publishing Inc., P.O. Box 214, Turner, ME 04282-0214. Advertisers and those wishing to submit articles of interest can call, 1-800-400-4076 (within the state of Maine only) or 1-207-225-2076 or fax us at 1-207-225-5333, you can also send e-mail to us at: articles@turnerpublishing.net. Any views expressed within this paper do not necessarily refl ect those of this paper. This paper assumes no responsibility for typographical errors that may occur, but will reprint, at no additional cost, that part of any advertisement in which the error occurs before the next issue’s deadline. This paper also reserves the right to edit stories and articles submitted for publication. This paper is mailed on a monthly basis to all postal patrons of Hebron, Minot, West Minot, Mechanic Falls, Poland, West Poland, East Poland, Gray, and New Gloucester. Founded by Steven Cornelio in 1992.