LOCAL DOCTOR GIVES INSIGHT
ON FROSTBITE AND
HYPOTHERMIA By Marie Tolonen
NORTHERN ADVENTURES RECENTLY REACHED OUT TO DR. PETE OLSEN, M.D., VICE PRESIDENT OF MEDICAL AFFAIRS AND EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT PHYSICIAN AT FAIRVIEW RANGE, FOR INFORMATION ON THE DANGERS OF FROSTBITE AND HYPOTHERMIA. BELOW ARE HIS REPLIES. Q. What are signs that you might be experiencing frostbite or hypothermia? A. Hypothermia occurs when a person’s body becomes so cold from exposure that it can’t warm up on its own. A normal body temperature is 98.6° Fahrenheit (37° Celsius). Shivering, bluish skin and difficulty talking are signs of mild hypothermia (defined as a body temperature of 90 – 95 degrees Fahrenheit). Shivering stops below 90 degrees, the cut-off for moderate hypothermia, and the point where medical attention is necessary for continued assessment and reversal of hypothermia. Severe hypothermia is defined as a body temperature less than 82 degrees, which is accompanied by loss of consciousness, respiratory arrest and cardiac arrest. Often, people forget that the temperatures above refer to core body temperature, so a rectal temperature is preferred since a peripheral thermometer (forehead, ear, under the tongue) may misrepresent the actual temperature in hypothermia. Additionally, most peripheral thermometers don’t read low enough to accurately assess hypothermia. Medical thermometers continuously monitor the extremes of temperature accurately.
22 N O RT H E R N A DV E N T U R E S W I N T E R 2021
Frostbite occurs when circulation to an extremity decreases due to cold temperatures. This is associated with numbness and a waxy appearance to the skin, as well as difficulty moving the affected extremity. Skin from prolonged exposure to cold temperatures begins to die, turning black in color days later. Q. How common is frostbite and/or hypothermia in our area? A. Hypothermia is common in the Midwest due to the prolonged cold temperatures throughout the fall and winter. Q. How dangerous is frostbite? How dangerous is hypothermia? A. If not treated early, both frostbite and hypothermia may quickly worsen. Every year, multiple people lose fingers and/or toes from frostbite when their circulation is literally frozen and no longer provides oxygen to tissues. The tissues themselves freeze and die. Hypothermia requires intervention since a person’s body is not able to heat itself on its own. As body temperature drops, hypothermia progresses to organ failure including cardiac arrest.
