Frostbite

Frostbite - a Preventable Disease

Wind Chill

Our bodies are surrounded by warmed air.  When the wind blows, it blows away this warm air.  Heat is lost through warming of the cooler air next to your skin.

Wind doesn’t lower air temperature.  It just hastens cooling.  

The faster the wind, the less time it takes to cool your body or cause tissue freezing. 

Signs and Symptoms of Frostbite

Frostbite can appear black and mummified in late stages, but generally doesn't look this way in the field. 

There are more than one way to categorize the levels of Frostbite.  In a hospital, they may use a 1st-4th degree rating system.  In the field, we generally use a 2-tierd system:

• Superficial

• Deep 

Superficial 

• No or minimal anticipated tissue loss

• First-degree frostbite 

  • Numbness 

  • Erythema (red skin) 

  • Mild swelling

  • Raised plaque - Firm, raised area of white or yellow skin

• Second-degree frostbite 

  • Superficial blisters - clear or milky fluid

  • Blisters surrounded by redness and swelling

Deep

• Anticipated tissue loss

• Third-degree frostbite 

  • Deeper blood filled blisters

  • May appear waxy and white

• Fourth-degree frostbite

  • Damage extends into muscle and bone

  • Eventually appears black