Each year 1200 Americans die from cardiac arrest or other heart related problems in the cold; most of those incidents are related to shoveling.
Now that many of us are putting our snow blowers and shovels to use; it's important that we remember not to over do it.
William Reinhardt owns Bill's Lawn & Snow Removal and says the key to being safe in the elements is consistency and not overdoing it.
Its winter time, a time to bring out the shovels and snow blowers and for William "Wild Bill" Reinhardt, he's ready to get outside and clear some snow.
"He knows when I get her done; she's done good, old school gets her done," Reinhardt said.
Every winter bill does just that, but most of us outside the snow removal business aren't as used to the climate or workload and risk falling victim to heart-related problems.
"I guess it's pretty common, with older people and people that don't take care of themselves and then go out and try to manhandle a shovel," Reinhardt said.
According to a Canadian study of 500 patients seven to ten percent of patients that came into the hospital for coronary problems were shoveling snow before-hand.
This is why Avera St. Luke's Interventional Cardiologist Lou Kumar says to always good to be cautious if you're not feeling up to par.
"It's so important not to ignore the early warning signs and say oh well ya know, maybe my muscles hurt because, I'm, maybe it's your muscles aching because you haven't used them, but I think, let us be the judge of that," Kumar said.
But snow removal experts like "Wild Bill" Reinhardt remind us to work at a safe speed and not over-exert yourself.
"Well we just kinda pace ourselves and ya know, and not take it on a dead run, ya know, just kinda keep it going smooth," Reinhardt said.
According to a study done by North Dakota State University: Smokers, people with Heart Disease and those who aren't physically active are at the highest risk of a heart attack while shoveling snow.
To view the study, click the link below.
http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/yf/fitness/fn1518.pdf
