Cold season is here — plan now for the hazards that come with it

The first sustained cold of the year is the one that catches crews out. Equipment that worked all summer behaves differently below freezing, and patients, bystanders and responders all lose heat faster than the call tempo suggests. None of this is new to you. The point is to move the thinking from the scene to the start of shift.

Water is the first thing to watch. Hydrants, standpipes, drafting sites and exposed lines all take longer in the cold, and ice builds under running water faster than people expect. A working scene can turn its own runoff into a fall hazard within minutes. Treat any wet, trafficked surface as ice until proven otherwise, and salt or sand it before someone is carrying a patient across it.

Cold degrades people before they notice. Fine motor skills, grip and judgment all drop, and that applies to the crew as much as the patient. Rotate people out of the weather, not just off the task. Rehab in winter is as much about warming as it is about rest.

For EMS and rescue, exposure times matter. A patient down on cold ground, a vehicle extrication in wind, a long carry-out — each adds a cold injury on top of the original complaint. Get something between the patient and the ground early, and factor heat loss into how long you can work a scene before transport becomes the priority.

Vehicles and generators run harder in the cold. Check batteries, fuel and fluids now, and watch for carbon monoxide wherever engines run in enclosed or poorly ventilated spaces — garages, sheds and homes using alternative heat. Expect a rise in heating-related fires and CO calls as the temperature drops.

Brief it at the start of shift. The hazards above are seasonal and foreseeable, which means the preparation is too.