Paramedics respond to two cold-related incidents overnight

_ (via Ottawa Paramedic Service) _ Overnight, on Friday, February 12th, 2015, the Ottawa Paramedic Service responded to two separate incidents where patients were found with an altered level of consciousness outside in the snow.  In the first incident, RCMP Officers found a male in his 40s at the intersection of Bank and Wellington.  The second patient, a male in his 20s, was found on the Rideau Canal near Carleton University later in the night.  He was found by bystanders and extricated from the Canal with the assistance of the NCC and Ottawa Police.

In both cases, paramedics initiated active re-warming in the field for moderate hypothermia and frostbite.  Both patients are now in local hospital in stable condition.

Overnight, the temperature fell to -39

0

C with the wind chill.  Without the interventions of Police Officers and bystanders, exposure to such temperatures for prolonged periods of time could have been fatal in both cases.