You don’t need us to tell you that it’s been freezing outside lately. Record-low temps mean it is far too cold for anyone to be outside right now, period. Some chronically homeless individuals have mental-health issues so profound that they can’t discern for themselves whether it is safe enough to remain outside.

Let’s continue to look out for one another.

To get help for a homeless person in extremely cold weather, listed below are all the ways to contact the hypothermia hotline:

202-399-7093

311

1-800-535-7252

uposh@upo.org

The call will take you less than a minute and a hypothermia team will be dispatched to the location of the individual suffering to bring them to a warming center or overnight shelter and deliver items to protect from the cold.

Hypothermia is a medical emergency that occurs when your body loses heat faster than it can produce heat, causing a dangerously low body temperature. Normal body temperature is around 98.6 F. Hypothermia occurs as your body temperature passes below 95 F. When your body temperature drops, your heart, nervous system and other organs can’t work correctly.

According to DC city records, 4 homeless individuals died from hypothermia in 2016 and 2017. Sadly, a death from hypothermia is a preventable death. YOU can be the difference between life and death for our brothers and sisters experiencing homelessness. If you see someone outside in the cold, please call 311.