Bryan Rabie who frequents The Loop shelter in Kamloops gets frostbite on his hands in the winter.

(SHANNON AINSLIE / iNFOnews.ca)

Emergency shelter beds are expected to open today as temperatures are expected to plummet but advocates says they should have been opened long ago.

They point to a temperature threshold used by the province. In the Interior, emergency shelters are not opened until the temperature reaches -10 Celsius. That temperature is colder than what's recommended for pets to be outside.

As Environment Canada forecasts temperatures plunging to -20 and colder, so far winter has been 'mild' but has still has an impact.

“Sub zero temperatures are dangerous and cause pain and injuries,” Glenn Hilke, who operates a shelter in Kamloops called The Loop, said. “When temperatures are below zero people living outside get hypothermia, frostbite, damaged fingernails and toenails, and swollen hands.”

When pressed to explain how the threshold number was found, BC Housing said in an email the province “works with communities to address shelter and support needs in extreme weather,” and provided a link to the Assistance to Shelter Regulation.

According to the legislation, extreme weather shelters will open if temperatures are forecast to be 0 C or lower in the next 24 hours and Environment Canada has issued a weather warning, or if there is no weather warning issued, the shelters will open if temperatures are forecast to be -10 C or lower. 

Hilke said the cold weather criteria is “inhumane.”

He's taken homeless clients to the hospital with cold injuries numerous times over the past few years.

“When it’s sub zero and wet that’s terrible and every day we have people coming in soaking wet needing shoes and they're freezing,” he said. “Freezing temperatures exacerbate the drug use, they want to numb the pain, and trips to the emergency room are stressful.”

To put things into perspective, the American Kennel Club says most dogs are at risk of frostbite when temperatures drop below zero, which can then lead to hypothermia. 

In Kamloops, when the provincial extreme cold weather criteria is met, 30 beds open at an emergency weather response shelter at the Alliance Church in Kamloops.

When asked if the city ever opens the shelter before the necessary criteria is met, Emergency Preparedness manager Will Beatty said no.

“I’ve seen some municipalities have their own plan but a lot of the time municipalities follow the lead of the governing health authorities,” Beatty said. "The legislation comes from the province. I don’t know how they arrive at these numbers but I'd like to think the same consideration is being made as in extreme hot weather responses."

READ MORE: Pickup tows semi up slippery Kamloops road

Beatty said similar to hot weather responses, the criteria differs from region to region in BC. In the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island regions, extra shelters are activated when temperatures of -4 C are in the 24-hour Environment Canada forecast or the forecast is at zero or lower and a weather warning has been issued.

READ MORE: Warming buses for homeless people gearing up for cold weather in Kelowna

With overnight temperatures forecast to plummet to double digits this week, Hilke called his volunteers to operate the shelter from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. yesterday, Jan. 8. When the 30 extreme weather beds at the Alliance Church are made available, he’ll encourage his clients to use them.

“We'll encourage them to stay with us until 10 p.m. when transport comes to pick them up take them to Alliance Church and then they’re dropped off at 7 a.m. to get out of the cold get breakfast,” he said.

iNFOnews.ca has requested more information from BC Housing as to how they determine the criteria for opening extreme weather response shelters in the regions but has yet to hear back. 

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