Cold Weather Health
(12/22/98)
A local hospital today treated its first case of frostbite. Doctors are warning residents beware of the chill factor - which in some areas may dip temperatures another ten or fifteen degrees.
Science Specialist Ed Yeates reports from Pioneer Valley Hospital in West Valley City.
A woman from Erda, Utah was brought to the emergency room this morning with severe frostbite on her ears. Her car broke down on a country road, and she walked for more than an hour trying to get help.
"The ears were very swollen and red and blistered," explains Mark Flammer of the Pioneer Valley Hospital emergency room. "It looked like she had had a fairly significant - what we call second degree frostbite."
This latest incident brought back painful memories for 22-year-old Joshua Holdaway. He was stranded too - more than three years ago. "It kind of brings back like they call it post-traumatic syndrome, they call it. And I can definitely relate to people who have frostbite and hypothermia," he says.
Josh spent 18-hours in frigid temperatures after his snowmobile bogged down in deep snow. In his case, it wasn't just frostbite on the ears. He lost most of his fingers and all the toes on both feet.
"It kind of feels like today," he says. "I couldn't see any clouds in the sky. I could just see stars in the sky and it was just bitter cold. I could feel the wind against my face and I just started shaking after awhile and thought I'm getting real bad hypothermia."
Josh has had surgeries and a lot of rehab. But even without fingers and toes, he can drive and write and play basketball. He says, "Don't underestimate the destructive force of cold temperatures." They break equipment and they break the body. He advises, "Always be prepared. You never know what's going to happen."
A reminder:
- Dress yourself and your children appropriately - layering clothing if outside for long periods of time.
- Try to keep clothing dry.
- Depending on conditions, hypothermia and frostbite can occur within 10 to 30 minutes.
- Early symptoms include pain followed by numbness.
- If frostbite is suspected , get inside where it's warm and warm up the affected areas quickly in water which is about 40 degrees.
- Cover your head. Even though clothes may be layered, a lot of heat escapes through the upper part of the body.
- Eighty percent of the warmth that you lose from your body comes from your head and neck.
- The ears, nose, fingers and toes are the most vulnerable to frostbite since those extremities have the least amount of circulation.
