WINTER SAFETY 101: Hypothermia, Frostbite, and Being Prepared

 

Hypothermia

When your body loses heat faster than it can produce it, a situation may occur where all of your body's energy is used up trying to produce heat.The result is hypothermia, or abnormally low body temperature. 

Victims of hypothermia are most often elderly people with inadequate food, clothing, or heating; babies sleeping in cold bedrooms; and people who remain outdoors for long periods -- the homeless, hikers, hunters, etc. 

Each perrson is affected differently by the cold. Wet and cold can bring hypothermia on rapidly, or long exposure to the cold, rain, and wind can bring the symptoms of hypothermia on slowly.

Mild hypothermia occurs when the core body temperature is between 98.6° and 96°F. The core temperature for moderate hypothermia is 95° to 93°F.  If your core temperature reaches 92° or below, you are in a life-threatening situation. This condition will affect your heart rate, blood flow, and ability to think clearly. Immediate attention is necessary. 

Signs and Symptoms of hypothermia:

In Adults

·        shivering/exhaustion

·        confusion/memory loss

·        drowsiness

·        slurred speech

In Infants

·        bright red, cold skin

·        very low energy

If you believe you or someone else is suffering from hypothermia, it is imperative to get to a warm room or shelter and call for help. While you wait for help to arrive, remove any wet clothing and warm the center of the victim's body first. An electric blanket works well if one is available. Skin-to-skin contact under loose, dry layers of blankets, clothing, towels, or sheets may also be effective. Drinking warm beverages -- NOT ALCOHOL -- will also help increase the body temperature. Once the body temperature has increased, keep the victim dry and wrapped in a warm blanket including the head and neck until help arrives.

If the victim is suffering from severe hypothermia, he or she may be unconscious and may not seem to have a pulse or appear to be breathing. In this case, you need to handle the victim gently, and get emergency assistance immediately.

Frostbite

It only takes a few minutes for exposed skin to become frostbitten if the temperature is below 20 F and the wind is blowing at 20 mph or more.

What is Frostbite?

When outside in the cold, your body is focused on maintaining its core temperature. To do that, it shifts blood away from the extremities and toward the central organs of the heart and lungs. This increases the risk of local cold injury such as frostbite to your extremities, particularly the feet and hands, and if uncovered, the nose, cheeks and ears on the head. We have even treated a case of frostbite of the corneas of the eyes at one x-c ski race.

Body tissues actually freeze when they are frostbitten. Ice crystals form in the cell, causing physical damage and permanent changes in cell chemistry. When the ice thaws, additional changes occur and may result in cell death.

If just the skin surface is affected, it's known as superficial frostbite; deep frostbite affects underlying tissues.

Preventing Frostbite

Anyone who is not dressed properly, is outside for too long, or gets wet in cold weather can get frostbite. It is easier to prevent frostbite than to treat it.

  Dress for the weather, not against it. Wear light, layered clothing that provides ventilation as well as insulation. Wear a water-repellent, breathable shell on top.

  Protect your head, hands and feet. COVER ALL EXPOSED SKIN! A number of new face masks specifically designed for winter athletes have come on the market in recent years. If you prefer to have your mouth and nostrils uncovered, consider putting moleskin or Vaseline on susceptible areas. Much of your body's heat loss occurs through your head and extremities. Helmets specifically designed for winter sports can protect your ears as well as your noggin, and also help retain body warmth. Goggles protect the eyes, and are less prone to fog up than sunglasses. Mittens are warmer than gloves. Wear wool or micro fleece socks and boots to keep your feet warm. Don't drink or smoke before going out into the cold. If you plan on being out in the cold for a prolonged period, don't drink alcohol or smoke. Alcohol and nicotine cause constriction of blood vessels and leave the skin more prone to thermal injury.

  If you get wet, go inside. Keep your skin dry. Remove wet clothing as quickly as possible. Check yourself every half-hour or so for signs of frostbite. If your toes, fingers, ears or other body parts feel numb, get inside.

  Hydrate! Drink plenty of fluids since hydration increases the blood's volume, which helps prevent frostbite. Adequate hydration helps sustain circulation

Symptoms

  Numbness

  Skin feels frozen

  Skin appears waxy, white, or grayish.

Frostbite can be very serious. If you suspect you have frostbite, seek medical care immediately.

(Click graphics to enlarge.)

A Great Idea for the Fall Season!!

 

Thanks to the New York State Dept, of Environmental Conservation (and Cabela's) for the suggestion!

Quick Tick Facts

 

• The two most common ticks found by humans are:
  • American dog tick, Dermacenter variablis, or wood tick.
  • Blacklegged tick, Ixodes variablis (formerly known as deer tick), which carries Lyme disease and other diseases.
  • The brown dog tick is also found in Minnesota, but less commonly seen.
• To avoid tick bites:
• When in the woods, walk on trails and avoid moving through grassy areas.
• Wear protective clothing, such as long-sleeved shirts and pants that are light-colored.
• Use repellents like DEET or permethrin.
• Always follow instructions and read warnings on repellent labels.

Diseases carried by ticks

Female (right) and male blacklegged ticks

The American dog tick in Minnesota can carry Rocky Mountain spotted fever, though this is rare. For more information on Rocky Mountain spotted fever, see information at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The blacklegged tick carries Lyme disease and several other diseases. See the Minnesota Department of Health page on tickborne diseases. 

High risk areas for tick exposure in Minnesota include the north central, east-central and southeastern regions of the state, also extending into some northwestern counties. Greatest risk is found within hardwood or mixed hardwood forests, which provide suitable habitat for blacklegged ticks.

Risk of bites from these ticks in Minnesota is highest during the spring, early summer, and fall months. Tickborne diseases have been increasing each year in the state. 

A blacklegged tick can only transmit disease to humans through a bite. They can't do so by just crawling on a person. Even when biting, a blacklegged tick must stay attached for at least 24 to 48 hours to transmit Lyme disease (12 to 24 hours to transmit human anaplasmosis).

If you want to find out for sure what type of tick you've found, you can fill out a form and send it and the tick to the health department for proper identification. This helps the state monitor where ticks are active

Be Winter Aware

 

From our friends at Tahoe Nordic Search and Rescue:

(Back in the early days of the Backcountry Trail Patrol, we were responsible for the grooming and patrol of the ski trails at Sand Dunes State Forest. (Orrock, MN) Each year we held a Backcountry Safety Workshop that was modified for our region from the one that Tahoe Nordic SAR and Eldorado Backcountry Ski Patrol put on in the Sierra Nevada. Budget cuts and equipment issues ended grooming at Dunes in 2007.)

These simple tips can help reduce your chances of calling for a rescue. For more comprehensive tips, be sure to read our Winter Awareness Guide.

• Tell someone where you are going and when you expect to return.

• Travel with a trusted partner. If you get separated from your group, stay put.

• Read the weather and avalanche forecast before you go.

• Carry emergency supplies, like a whistle, emergency blanket, spare warm clothes, headlamp, extra water and food, cell phone, map and compass, and emergency locator device. 

• Carry a stocked first aid kit and take a wilderness first aid course to learn how to treat common injuries. 

• Layer appropriately for the weather conditions and bring spare layers.

• In Avalanche Country, from the Adirondacks to the Sierras:

• • Carry avalanche safety gear—beacon, shovel, probe—and know how to use it.

American Birkebeiner Announces Birkie Bystander Medical Training Class

What to do until help arrives: communicating effectively with 911; treatment of cardiac arrest including CPR and AED use; and Stop the Bleed. Class size is limited for this 90 minute training, so sign up asap! This class will be offered on a recurring basis, so stay tuned for additional offerings in the future months.

Register now at Birkie Bystander Medical Training Class

Remembering Jerry

 From the North End Ski Club: REMEMBERING JERRY

The shock and disbelief at recent tragic passing of Jerry Wright have reverberated deeply throughout our local and regional active outdoor community. The North End Ski Club extends its deepest sympathies and support to Jerry’s wife, Laurie, and the many members of our community who knew and loved him.

Though he no longer skied, Jerry played a significant role in North End Ski Club events, particularly the North End Classic ski race, where he was a key member of our first aid team. One of the first and most fervent adopters of winter fat biking, as a member of the National Mountain Bike Patrol and a trained first responder, Jerry was originally recruited to patrol the race course on his fat bike in a year when we were short on first aid coverage. In subsequent years he became a stalwart, go-to volunteer for the race. There was never much of a question if Jerry would be available for the race, he just was. His service and support of the club was highly regarded, and we will miss his whole hearted engagement and professionalism.

His involvement with the North End Ski Club was just the tip of a very large iceberg that was Jerry’s dedication to the many organizations and causes in his life. Most well-known for his cycling escapades, as a volunteer Jerry devoted an unfathomable amount of time to the Chequamegon Area Mountain Bike Association (CAMBA) where he served on CAMBA’s Trails Team, winter biking, and other committees and played an integral role in race and event planning, putting in an insane number of miles – hundreds and hundreds - marking race courses and doing other course preparation. He also became a leader in CAMBA’s trail rehab and maintenance efforts and was the first and most frequent volunteer to sign up for CAMBA’s bi-weekly trail work days throughout the summer and fall and frequently stepped in for CAMBA leadership dealing with timber sales and forestry issues.

Jerry was all things bicycling – road, gravel, singletrack, fat biking, bike packing - and never missed an opportunity for a group ride. A skilled bicycle mechanic, he was the consummate bike nerd and could regale you with the minutia of wheel building until your eyes glazed over.

One of his greatest cycling passions, however, was winter grooming of fat bike trails. Most of CAMBA’s recent success in winter biking can directly be attributed to Jerry’s vision and dedicated efforts to make it happen, again putting a crazy amount time and effort. He would totally geek out cobbling together custom grooming drags, repairing snowmobiles, and facilitating and coordinating a team of groomers who prepared over 70 miles of groomed winter bike trails, often in difficult and challenging conditions.

His community engagement extended beyond riding the bike and grooming trails. As a member of Sawyer County Search and Rescue he again put in enormous hours in training and responding to incidents around the region. He took particular pleasure in working with the local NICA middle-school/high school mountain bike team.

And many may not know that Jerry was also an avid sailor. He was part of a volunteer crew on a boat out of Superior and sailed most weeks throughout the summer months. One can only imagine him as part of a team handling the lines and sheets, coming about on the Big Lake. He placed a high priority on his time on the boat and fiercely guarded those opportunities.

Jerry’s loss will leave a big hole, many holes actually, in our community. Memories of his involvement, antics, intellect, humor, and energy are many and widespread and will help temper the hurt and utter sadness and disappointment of his premature passing. But it will hurt for some time none the less.

Thank you Jerry for who you were and everything you’ve done. You were truly one of a kind.

A Caring Bridge site is available for those who wish to leave messages of support and love for Jerry’s family and friends. https://www.caringbridge.org/.../b55357bf-59d7-11ef-a223...

A Go Fund Me site has also been set up to help provide support for Jerry’s family. https://www.gofundme.com/.../support-jerry-wrights...

From the Chief:

Jerry has been a vital and enthusiastic member of the Backcountry Trail Patrol since Gary Crandall introduced him to me over a decade ago. He was the one who rode the Fat Tire 40 beginning to end every year, worked almost all of the CAMBA events, and loved the winter rides. CAMBA will miss him, we will miss him, I will miss him. Thank you, our teammate and friend for everything you have been and done. You wore the jersey well.

25 Years of Service