Wintery Conditions
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/ Categories: WELLNESS, 2022

Wintery Conditions

Winter weather dries out the air. It makes it easier for contagious respiratory illnesses—like COVID, the flu, and RSV—to travel between people. It also affects our skin and lips. Here’s a quick run down of some things you can do to fight back against both the serious and more minor conditions that affect us this time of year. 

Get vaccinated. I know. We say this all the time. Because it’s true. Vaccines keep serious illnesses from becoming serious. When you get vaccinated you spare yourself weeks of illness, and you decrease your odds of spreading a potentially deadly disease to someone more vulnerable.

Wash your hands. Wash your hands with warm water and plenty of soap for 20 seconds frequently throughout the day, especially before and after eating or preparing food; after using the toilet, changing a diaper, or helping a child with using the toilet; and after blowing your nose or catching a cough or sneeze. See a complete list of handwashing moments at cdc.gov/handwashing.

Wear gloves. Wearing warm outdoor gloves in cold weather protects skin from extreme cold and wind and the drying that comes with it. Wearing rubber or latex gloves for water-related chores, like doing dishes and heavy cleaning, prevents the water and chemicals from stripping important skin-protecting oils from your skin. 

Eat a healthy diet. Nutritious food is an important part of maintaining our immune system and the moisture in our skin and lips. A variety of proteins, whole grains, fruits, and vegetables will provide vitamins A, C, D, and E; zinc; and selenium, all of which help to keep skin and the rest of your body healthy.

Moisturize your hands and lips regularly. After bathing and before bed are good moments to apply moisturizer and lip balm. Target the hands, lower legs, elbows, and lower arms, which get particularly dry, especially as we age. Lotion can keep skin from drying and cracking. Cracked skin can become itchy, stinging, and inflamed and is more vulnerable to infection.

If skin is already in need of healing, moisturize with an ointment. Then, put on a pair of cotton gloves overnight. Dry patches that persist could be a sign of a more serious condition. Consult with your doctor.

With these steps, we can keep our skin and lungs safe from conditions that afflict us when the temperature drops.

Dagmar Tobits, MD, is a primary care and family medicine physician at SVMC Deerfield Valley Campus in Wilmington, VT. The practice is part of Southwestern Vermont Medical Center and Southwestern Vermont Health Care in Bennington. 

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Emergency Department: Open, Ready, Safe. 

The last 3 months have been a uniquely challenging experience in the SVMC Emergency Department (ED) and emergency departments and hospitals all over the country and the world. I am very proud of all our staff has done and continues to do to ensure safe care for patients during this era of COVID-19. We are grateful that cases of COVID-19 in our area have been the lowest in the U.S. and have decreased even further over the past several weeks. We are also heartened to see that patients who had been avoiding the ED are now confident to return to get the care they need.

It may be surprising to hear that over the past few months, the sickest patients we have seen in the ER have not had COVID-19. Many people have refrained from seeking care for serious medical problems due to the fear of being exposed to the virus, assuming that the hospital was not a safe place to be and not recognizing the seriousness of their symptoms. The most challenging moments of the past several months have involved critically ill patients who tried to stay away for far too long due to fear of being exposed to COVID-19. We have had many sad moments trying to care for those who waited until it was too late for us to help with conditions that could have been easily treated if presented sooner.

One might expect that the greatest challenges related to the pandemic were those needed to adapt our facilities and procedures and the work of caring for sick COVID-19 patients. SVMC is fortunate to have built a strong foundation of safety and infection-prevention methods over many years, which made this transition much easier. Still, when it became apparent that we were going to see COVID-19 cases coming through our doors, we implemented many COVID-specific changes very quickly.

From day one our staff have all been fully trained to use protective equipment effectively, to focus on cleaning and disinfecting, and to move patients safely through the new areas created to keep them safe. We also spaced the waiting room chairs to allow for plenty of distance and initiated drive-by testing to keep potentially contagious people outside and away from other patients.

We immediately increased our standard of protective equipment we use. For example, all staff who relate with patients now wear both a mask and protective shield, which is a proven and effective strategy to prevent transmission. Those staff who work with patients with respiratory or other contagious symptoms also wear a gown and advanced respirators developed in cooperation with Mack Molding in Arlington. They look strange, but they help us deliver care safely.

We also quickly built special spaces and units in the hospital to treat and segregate patients with respiratory symptoms who might be contagious from those with other routine medical problems. Outpatients with symptoms that could be related to COVID-19 are directed to a spacious area called the Respiratory Evaluation Center. There they can be taken to a safe treatment space called a negative-pressure room without encountering any patients who are using the ED for other reasons or any staff who are not fully equipped with protective gear. There are similar, safe, negative-pressure units for those who require treatment in the ED or hospital.

Our hard work paid off. We have treated a number of COVID-19 patients in our ED and, as far as we know, not a single staff member was sickened in relation to their work here, and no patients have contracted COVID-19 while under our care. With our current procedures and drastically declining COVID numbers, we are confident that we can continue that trend. Furthermore, SVMC recently received a perfect score on a rigorous survey specifically designed to judge our ability to prevent transmission of COVID-19. At this time our ED is safer than just about any other public place you could go.

My goal in writing today is to communicate that SVMC’s Emergency Department is open, ready, and safe. If you need emergency care, we are here and we can care for you safely. Please do not defer emergency care until it is too late for us to help. While many symptoms can represent a serious medical problem, the most concerning are chest pain, difficulty breathing, fast heart rate, confusion, high fever, intense headache, drooping face, dehydration, or weakness. Of course, with any other symptom you feel indicates a serious problem, come in right away or call 9-1-1.

For us, spending time with patients and connecting on a personal level is the best part of our jobs. We take pride in our life-saving role in our communities and the work we have been able to do during the pandemic, but we cannot help if you do not come in. Please don’t hesitate to get the care you need when you need it.

Adam Cohen, MD, is a board-certified emergency medicine physician at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center. He also serves as the chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine and the medical director of SVMC’s Emergency Department.

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