The total number of outpatient visits to 10 hospital emergency rooms declined 64 per cent and emergency admissions 35 per cent immediately after the February 1978 blizzard in Rhode Island; both quickly returned to normal levels. Three days after the storm, admissions for myocardial infarction increased markedly. Total mortality and ischemic heart disease deaths showed a considerable increase for the five-day period following the blizzard. The physical and psychological stress of the blizzard probably precipitated cardiac deaths in susceptible individuals.