The 1996 New York blizzard: impact on noninjury emergency visits

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of the January 1996 New York blizzard on emergency visits to 12 Suffolk County hospitals for 10 noninjury health conditions. Emergency charts from the blizzard week (January 7-11) and a nonblizzard week (January 21-25) were reviewed and information was abstracted from the records meeting the criteria. Blizzard conditions were associated with increased visits for myocardial infarction/angina, primarily shoveling-related, and with decreased visits for asthma. Diagnoses for the other noninjury conditions did not differ significantly between time periods. The decrease in asthma visits possibly resulted from asthmatics avoiding exposure to blizzard conditions. An unexpected finding was that most patients with shoveling-related myocardial infarction/angina did not report pre-existing heart disease. Also of interest was that one quarter of myocardial infarction/angina visits by women were reportedly shoveling-related. This suggests that health warnings may be less effective at decreasing shoveling-induced myocardial infarction if they are directed primarily at men and at people with heart disease.