Blizzard morbidity and mortality: Rhode Island, 1978

The total number of outpatient visits to 10 hospital emergency rooms declined 64 per cent and emergency admissions 35 per cent immediately after the February 1978 blizzard in Rhode Island; both quickly returned to normal levels. Three days after the storm, admissions for myocardial infarction increased markedly. Total mortality and ischemic heart disease deaths showed a considerable increase for the five-day period following the blizzard. The physical and psychological stress of the blizzard probably precipitated cardiac deaths in susceptible individuals.