A one-two punch of massive storms are currently putting a hurting on the United States, just in time for many of us to hit the road for our annual Turkey Day celebrations. For many of us, travel around the holidays is a painful requirement — but it can get a whole lot more painful if you find yourself broken down on the side of the road in freezing temperatures.
With snow, freezing rain, and high winds effecting communities everywhere from Oregon to New York, there’s a solid chance that you might be in the path of some harsh weather. Whether you’re making the trek to grandma’s house for Thanksgiving or staying home to play in the snow, it’s important that you keep an eye out for signs of frostbite and hypothermia, in these sorts of conditions, especially if you’re a parent, as kids can often be affected by the cold in more pronounced ways than us old timers.
In 2004, I found myself hospitalized with hypothermia. I was fortunate to be close to one of southern Vermont’s largest hospitals, and though I don’t recall much of the treatment I received, my family has since told me that it was stellar. I do, however, faintly recall waking up as the nurses cut all of my clothes off of me and realizing, to my abject horror, that I had gone to high school with one of them.
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A one-two punch of massive storms are currently putting a hurting on the United States, just in time for many of us to hit the road for our annual Turkey Day celebrations. For many of us, travel around the holidays is a painful requirement — but it can get a whole lot more painful if you find yourself broken down on the side of the road in freezing temperatures.
With snow, freezing rain, and high winds effecting communities everywhere from Oregon to New York, there’s a solid chance that you might be in the path of some harsh weather. Whether you’re making the trek to grandma’s house for Thanksgiving or staying home to play in the snow, it’s important that you keep an eye out for signs of frostbite and hypothermia, in these sorts of conditions, especially if you’re a parent, as kids can often be affected by the cold in more pronounced ways than us old timers.
In 2004, I found myself hospitalized with hypothermia. I was fortunate to be close to one of southern Vermont’s largest hospitals, and though I don’t recall much of the treatment I received, my family has since told me that it was stellar. I do, however, faintly recall waking up as the nurses cut all of my clothes off of me and realizing, to my abject horror, that I had gone to high school with one of them.
Don’t end up naked and freezing on a table in front of girls you went to high school with.
It’s much easier to just keep an eye out for the symptoms of hypothermia and to take some simple precautions to help keep you safe and coherent when temperatures begin to fall.
Marine Corps Order 3470.1A provides guidance on preventing cold-weather injuries, particularly hypothermia and frostbite. Although you can find similar information from a multitude of sources like the Mayo Clinic and the Center for Disease Control, my penchant for the Naval letter format and the fact that I keep this order, along with a number of others, in a binder in my office helps me retain the necessary wave tops I need to keep my pants intact and on my body during cold-weather activities.
Those nurses aren’t going to get another free show out of me, nor will they from you if you follow these simple guidelines:
Frostbite, as the Marine Corps defines it, is damage caused by the “crystallization of tissue water in the skin and adjacent tissues.” In layman’s terms, frostbite is caused when the water inside your skin and near-surface tissues freezes. Skin exposure at sub-freezing temperatures can cause frostbite anywhere on your body, but the regions that are most commonly susceptible are your hands, feet, and face.
Frostbite can get tricky because ambient temperatures don’t need to be below freezing for the early stages of the condition to set in. Wind chill can easily bring otherwise sustainable temperatures to below freezing, and as day wears into night, frostbite may set in even faster after prolonged exposure to near-freezing temperatures.
The symptoms of the early stages of frostbite are pretty common: an uncomfortable cold sensation followed by numbness. As the condition worsens, your skin will turn red before transitioning to gray or white; and any fingers or toes affected by frostbite may feel overly stiff or wooden. Eventually, frostbitten parts of your body will turn black due to a lack of blood flow, and they may sometimes even fall off.
Unlike frostbite, hypothermia affects your entire body. As it progresses, your ability to reason and make sound decisions may also be compromised. As my trusty Marine Corps order points out, “even mild hypothermia can render personnel ineffective.”
Hypothermia sets in when your body’s core temperature dips below 95 degrees Fahrenheit and is unable to produce heat faster than heat is escaping your body. Wind chill must also be taken into account for hypothermia, and it’s important to note that you can succumb to hypothermia even in non-freezing conditions.
The symptoms of hypothermia can be difficult to pinpoint, as they often manifest simply as tiredness. Feeling abnormally weak or fatigued and having bouts of confusion is common among those suffering from the early stages of hypothermia. This can significantly compromise an individual’s ability to get themselves out of the dangerous situation or to articulate their symptoms. If a person that has been shivering suddenly stops doing so, they are likely entering the more advanced stages of hypothermia. Dizziness and nausea are also common in hypothermia patients.
As soon as you recognize the symptoms of hypothermia in yourself or your buddy, it’s imperative that you take immediate action to stop the loss of heat from the body. If left untreated, hypothermia will leave you or your hiking partner utterly incapacitated, and if you’re not as lucky as me, you’ll die soon thereafter.
Hypothermia and frostbite aren’t the only risks for holiday hikers, but taking action to prevent these two common dangers can go a long way in ensuring that you make it to Christmas.
Remember to always hydrate before taking treks into the great unknown; and, in addition to your efforts to prevent cold-weather injuries, exercise the same cautionary methods that you use during warm-weather hikes.
And don’t forget your buddy. They just might save your life.
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