Dominic Lee Arthur, 46, died December 31st.
When cold weather strikes alcohol consumption and freezing conditions can prove to be a deadly combination.
A Riverton man was found frozen to death on the Central Wyoming College Campus on New Year’s Eve.
Captain Eric Murphy of the Riverton Police Department said a call came in at 9:15 p.m. the night before 46-year-old Dominic Arthur was found, alerting the police that he was intoxicated and had left an apartment complex near the campus after an argument with family.
“We got up there and looked for him for probably about an hour, hour and a half,” Murphy said. “We were unable to locate him and then the next day is when one of the basketball players from the college was actually coming out of the student center and found him.”
Arthur had a history of involvement with the department.
“We have a pretty big transient population here in town and he was one of our local transient guys that we deal with multiple times a week and so that kind of thing for him was not uncommon,” Murphy said.
Toxicology reports have yet to be released, but the preliminary autopsy report stated the cause of death as hypothermia. Hypothermia is more common in areas with harsh temperature fluctuations.
“Basically what happens is that your temperature drops and as you get colder your body tries to shiver like it normally would to warm itself up,” Cathy Glenn, a registered nurse at Ivinson Memorial Hospital, said. “Unfortunately as it progresses your body can’t shiver anymore so your core temperature just keeps going down and down and down you have no internal mechanism left to keep yourself warm.”
Alcohol intoxication can bring on the effects of hypothermia faster due to the illusion of warmth that it creates in the body.
“I think you are more apt to be hypothermic when you have alcohol in your system,” Dr. Marie Gempis, a family physician in Laramie, said. “What alcohol does, especially when you have a lot in your system, is it vasodilates a lot of your blood vessels on the surface of your skin. So what happens is that in cold you feel really warm.”
Preventative measures can be taken to ensure that accidents such as Arthur’s are avoided.
“Obviously dress for the weather if it’s cold out when the party starts,” AWARE Program Coordinator Lena Newlin said. “Check the forecast, if it is going to be cold make sure you dress appropriately. Know Safe Ride’s number and know someone you can call for a safe ride home if the weather is bad.”
Gempis reaffirmed Newlin’s advice.
“Certainly drink responsibly and have somebody take them home,” Gempis said. “In very cold weather you know they may feel very hot. They get very flushed and so you think oh well they must be really hot, but they are not really hot. Their core temperature is probably very low and then they go outside with very little clothing because they feel hot and that’s when problems arise.”
