Winter in Missouri is one of the hardest times for our unhoused neighbors. The unpredictable nature of Midwest weather means that a week of 60°F days can be rapidly followed by a string of subfreezing days. Currently, St. Louis activates warming shelters at 25°F, leaving many nights when people are enduring subfreezing temperatures with no reprieve. In the wintertime, treating episodes of frostbite becomes the norm rather than the exception.
This year, Street Med STL treated some particularly terrible cases of frostbite. Several patients, unfortunately, lost fingers and toes to the cold. Our volunteers were recently interviewed on St. Louis NPR to discuss how to deal with frostbite in our population. Check out the article below and make sure to click the two audio links to hear two separate NPR pieces featuring not our only our volunteers, but also our patients.
https://www.stlpr.org/health-science-environment/2026-02-09/st-louis-frostbite-homeless-harm
Nathanial Nolan, MD MPH MHPE
