Dying to Stay Warm

Feb. 8, 2007 — -- The number of deaths blamed on a week of intensely cold temperatures rose to 13 on Wednesday, reminding many Americans about the dangers of hypothermia and exposure.

But the cold weather may have a much larger hidden death toll.

Dr. Jeffrey Guy says many of the cold-related injuries and deaths during this cold snap have been the direct result of fires accidentally or intentionally set by people.

"The numbers are significant," said Guy, an associate professor of surgery and director of the burn center at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn.

"Everyone is looking at exposure-related injuries, such as hypothermia, but these people are setting their houses on fire while trying to stay warm."

Guy says the extended duration of cold weather has resulted in an increased number of patients in his 29-bed burn unit.

Some of the patients leave the medical center after treatment for their injuries. Some do not.

"If you count the deaths across the South, there have probably been 20 fire-related deaths in the past two weeks," Guy said. "And these are just the deaths."

The severity of the cases range from relatively mild injuries on the arms and legs to burns over 60 percent of the body. "We really get patients across the spectrum," Guy said. "There's not one specific injury."

What most of Guy's patients have in common is that they are poor. Many of them live in older homes, sometimes dating back to the Civil War. Many of these Southern-style homes have no heat, while others have faulty, aging heaters.

In order to create warmth, people living in these homes often use space heaters. These heaters, Guy says, are a major cause of the burn cases that he treats.

"In the past two weeks, we've had maybe four or five kids who have set their clothes on fire by sitting too close to a space heater," he said.

Overloaded electrical circuits and fireplaces that have not been properly maintained can also spark deadly fires.