ERIE COUNTY, NY (WKBW) — The Erie County Health Department announced Thursday morning that two county residents died due to heart attacks and heart complications from shoveling and snow-blowing.
Now, the department is urging residents to be aware of how they feel as they shovel snow.
"We just want to alert all Erie County residents, especially adults with any type of cardiac condition, even blood pressure," said Gale Burstein, Commissioner of Health for Erie County. "Even if you're taking medication and your doctor says it's under control, you really have to be careful and listen to your body."
I reached out to Anne Curtis, SUNY Distinguished Professor of Cardiology from the University of Buffalo, to get a better picture of when shoveling should be slowed down.
"People get into trouble when they suddenly have to do something like snow shoveling, and they're usually pretty sedentary, or they don't do much exertion most of the time," said Dr. Curtis.
So, if you have any underlying conditions, it is wise to take it slow, use your knees, and push the snow away instead of bringing it up and heaving the heavy snow away.
"If they start getting unusually short of breath all of a sudden or they get chest discomfort — it's described as a squeezing or a heaviness in the chest. They ought to stop immediately," said Dr. Curtis.
I performed a stress test of my own. My resting heart rate was 60 bpm, and after shoveling for 15 minutes, it rose to 169 bpm.
"For somebody younger like you, you can get over 150," Dr. Curtis said.
People over 60 should be a little more serious about their heart rate.
"They should probably be concerned if their heart rates get much over 120, 130 in that range," said Dr. Curtis.
Other tips for remaining safe can be found here.
