Frostbite and hypothermia data focus of new group in Sudbury

Sudbury homeless advocacy group demands public health data on frostbite amputations and hypothermia deaths as wet, cold conditions plague area encampments.

A new group that advocates for the homeless wants data published by public health about frostbite amputations and deaths by hypothermia.

Rabble-rousers Against Frostbite (RAF) has reached out to local politicians and public health officials in hopes of making a difference for people living rough outdoors.

Conditions were wet and cold this week at the Energy Court encampment site after rain and snow over the past 24 hours. Puddles surrounded tents where many people live.

Holland Marshall is leading a new effort to get data relating to frostbite and hypothermia published by public health.

“Getting your feet wet in World War 1, that was called trench foot and that name has ... stuck,” Marshall said.

Conditions are similar at the encampment, he said, where rain is followed by freezing temperatures, then rain and freezing cold again.

“It makes everything worse because your sleeping bags, your clothing, your socks, your shoes, your pants -- everything gets wet,” said Marshall, founder of RAF.

Marshall reached out to Sudbury MPP Jamie West, who agreed that publishing this type of data would help in assessing the needs of the homeless population and the challenges they face.

“We had the meeting with Holland last week (and) right away my team at Queen’s Park reached out to the legislative library to find out what happened in other provinces so we can take a model they have to share here in Ontario,” West said.

“We are also going to be speaking to public health to ensure they will be able to work with this data because we know that they had funding cuts, as well. So, we want to make sure this is successful all the way around.”

‘It’s painful’

Marlon Wright, who has been homeless on and off for several years, lost his fingertips in Regina and some toes in Sudbury due to frostbite.

“It’s painful -- it’s painful,” Wright said.

“Severe frostbite, when it happened to me, it was extremely painful. Like the morning when I got into somewhere warm, it just felt like it was being burnt or you slam your hands in the car door or something like that is what it feels like, but it’s continual.”

He stays in the shelter overnight, but said days can be cold on the streets, trying to find places to get warm.

In an email to CTV News, Public Health Sudbury and Districts said it does not have access to data on cold-related injuries but supports this kind of information being centrally collected and made public.