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“Whenever there is significant snowfall, our cardiac health team prepares to respond to an increase of activity,” said Dr. Christopher Overgaard, chief of the cardiac health department, in an email to

“Southlake Health is the regional hub for emergent heart attack care, meaning that heart attack patients in York Region and southern Simcoe County will be brought to Southlake for treatment no matter which hospital is closest.”

Barrie cardiologist has some snow shovelling tips

“Shovelling snow can be deadly to someone’s heart if it’s not healthy or fit enough to take on that level of exertion,” Dr. Brad Dibble, a cardiologist with , . “It’s a classic story: sudden cold weather exertion can strain the heart enough to trigger a heart attack or cause sudden cardiac death.”

He went on to explain shovelling heavy snow will lead to a significant increase in your blood pressure and heart rate.

“If there’s an unstable plaque in a heart artery, that strain may be enough to lead to plaque rupture and that’s what causes a heart attack,” he said. “Even if it doesn’t, it can be enough extra work to cause angina, which is chest tightness because the heart isn’t getting as much blood flow as it needs for the extra workload.”

What can increase your risk while shovelling

According to the , other snow shovelling risks include cold exposure, fatigue, muscular strains and more serious injury, particularly to the lower back.

“In general, if you load a shovel with five kg of snow (just about the average) every five seconds, you will move a load of over 70 kg in one minute. Repeat for 15 minutes and you will have shovelled 1,000 kg of snow,” the agency said. “Such effort is obviously not for everyone.”

Snowblowers can help move the snow around, but they are also heavy and also require some physical exertion.

While shovelling snow isn’t usually a problem for the healthy and fit, it can be risky for the older adults, or for people with known heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, smokers, or for the habitually sedentary, Dibble added.

Shovelling snow can be particularly taxing because the majority of the workload is on your arms, rather than your legs.

When , it should be lightweight, and when the blade is on the ground, the handle should be approximately to your elbow.

The size of the blade should match the job. The less dense the material, the larger the blade size, the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety said. So you can use a longer blade to shovel fluffy snow. Using a smaller blade (shovel head) minimizes the weight of the material when lifting.

When shovelling, you should put your weight on the front foot, and use your leg muscles to aid in pushing the shovel. Once you’ve picked up some snow, shift your weight to the back foot, then lift the shovel and turn your feet in the direction of the throw.

Heart-safe snow shovelling advice

• Talk to your doctor before shovelling heavy snow. “I would advise against it if you are older, have had a heart attack, stroke, or previous angioplasty, stents in heart arteries or heart surgery until you’ve been cleared for that level of exertion.
• If you do shovel, avoid shovelling first thing in the morning because that’s when your blood pressure tends to be at its highest and your blood is most prone to clotting. Instead, warm up your muscles before shovelling by taking a quick 20 to 30 minute walk.
• Prior to shovelling, don’t drink coffee, smoke or eat big meals before shovelling or during breaks. “Coffee and tobacco are stimulants and will elevate your blood pressure and heart rate. Digesting a meal will divert blood from the heart to the stomach which isn’t good when the heart needs that blood flow for exertion.”
• Call 911 if you think you are having a heart attack.

With files by Lisa Queen