The main groups of residents who are provided with medical assistance the most often during periods of especially cold weather are lonely seniors and alcoholic persons, said the Head of the Communication Department of the Emergency Medical Service (NMPD) Ilze Bukša in an interview to Latvijas Radio.
According to the representative of NMPD, generally Latvian residents have been careful this very cold weekend. The number of calls for ambulance assistance was slightly lower than the number observed during work week. Nevertheless, there were calls related to hypothermia and freezing extremities.
Bukša also said that seniors that live alone and who are unable to take care of themselves, which includes indoor heating, are at risk the most. Last weekend there were cases when dead seniors were found in their dwellings. However, NMPD is unable to say if they froze to death or there were other causes of death and they were simply found in a cold dwelling.
The other group at risk the most from freezing weather are young adults, mainly drunk men.
Also read: Air temperature in Latvia falls to lowest value in recent years
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NMPD: people at risk the most from the cold – lonely seniors and alcoholics
