A campsite is seen on Oct. 18 in the woods along the Campbell Creek Trail in Midtown Anchorage. Unsheltered people face a much higher risk of cold-exposure injuries than do housed people, state data shows. But the rate of such injuries among the homeless is not clear because the homeless population is difficult to define and identify. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
Unhoused people accounted for nearly a quarter of the Alaskans who were hospitalized with cold-related injuries like frostbite and hypothermia from 2012 to 2021, according to a report released by the state Division of Public Health.
Data from the Alaska Trauma Registry showed that being unhoused was identified as the main underlying factor in 23.3% of cold-exposure injuries, and the odds of such injuries among people without housing were about eight times those with housing. The results were summarized in a bulletin published by the division’s epidemiology section.
The results probably underestimate the problem of cold exposure among the homeless, said Riley Fitting, a state epidemiologist who compiled the report.