In the fall of 2001, the Meteorological Service of Canada launched a new wind chill program, based based on the new wind chill index jointly developed by the United States and Canada under the auspices of the Joint Action Group on Thermal Indices (JAG/TI).

Because the new program's main goal is to help people make decisions with respect to their health and well-being during cold weather, clinical trials were conducted in June 2001 at the Defence and Civil Institute of Environmental Medicine, in Toronto, Canada. These tests were to validate a model of facial heat loss due to the wind and cold, on which the new wind chill index is based. Twelve subjects, including the first author, participated in these trials. This poster session presents the new Canadian program and illustrates the clinical trials from the perspective of a subject.