Cold Weather Injuries (Military)

Description of cold weather injuries and how to treat them for ROTC/military units

1. Date
COLD WEATHER INJURIES
COUTURE

2. Agenda
✤References
✤Chilblain
✤Frostbite
✤Trench foot
✤Hypothermia
✤Dehydration
✤Snow blindness
✤Questions

3. REFERENCES
✤DVC 08-36
✤DVC 08-37
✤FM 4-25.11
✤STP 21-1-SMCT

4. Seek Medical Aid Immediately
✤If situation allows, do not stop administering first aid. Send someone
else to get help.
✤Cold weather injuries can occur starting at 60F
✤Might be effected by wind chill, duration of exposure, history of cold
injuries
✤Pack correctly for the situation

5. Chilblain
✤Small, itchy red areas on skin
✤Possible blistering
✤Swelling of skin
✤Burning sensation
✤Changes in skin color - red, dark blue
✤Pain
✤Effects mostly Women, underweight, poor
circulation

6. Treatment
✤Rewarm the affected part by applying firm steady pressure with your
hands or placing the affected part under your arms or against the
stomach of a buddy
✤Do not rub area
✤Have medical personnel evaluate - signs are slow to show

7. Frostbite
✤Painful, prickly, itching sensation
✤Red, white, pale or gray/yellow skin
✤Hard or waxy looking skin
✤Cold or burning
✤Numbness
✤Clumsiness
✤Blistering

8. Treatment
✤Face, ears, nose: Cover the casualty’s affected area with another
person’s bare hands until sensation and color return
✤Hands: Open the casualty’s field jacket and shirt and place the hands
under their own armpit and close the jacket and shirt to prevent
exposure
✤Feet: Remove boots and socks and place feet under clothing and
against the body of another soldier
✤DO NOT thaw the casualty’s feet if they must walk to medical center.
Injury is more likely when feet have thawed.

9. Trench Foot
✤Long exposure to wet conditions 50F - 32F
✤Stage one: cold and painless areas, pulse is
weak, numbness.
✤Stage two: hot and burning, shooting pain
✤Later stages: skin is pale with bluish cast,
decrease pulse, blisters, swelling, redness

10. Treatment
✤Do not expose injured part to an open fire
✤Rewarm the injured part gradually by exposing to warm air
✤Protect the part from trauma and secondary infections
✤Use dry, loose clothing or several layers of warm coverings
✤Elevate
✤Do not massage, moisten, apply heat or ice

11. Hypothermia
✤Early: shivering, pulse is faint, drowsiness,
mental slowness, stiffness, lack of
coordination, slurred speech
✤Moderate: glassy eyes, slow and shallow
breathing, very weak or absent pulse,
increasing stiffness, lack of coordination,
unconsciousness
✤Severe: frozen extremities, irregular heart
action, sudden death

12. Treatment
✤Remove person from cold
✤Remove wet clothing and put on dry clothing.
✤Warm trunk first, not hands and feet
✤Do not immerse in warm water
✤Do not apply heat directly to skin
✤CPR, if needed, at same time
✤Warm fluids - avoid caffeine or alcohol

13. Dehydration
✤Parched, dry mouth, tongue and throat
✤difficulty swallowing
✤nausea
✤extreme dizziness and fainting
✤tired and weak
✤difficulty focusing eyes

14. Treatment
✤Keep warm
✤Loosen clothes to improve circulation unless in chemical environment
✤Give fluids
✤Transport the casualty to a medical treatment facility

15. Snow Blindness
✤Sensation of grit in eyes, watery eyes, redness, headache, increased
pain with exposure to light
✤Treatment: Cover eyes with a dark cloth or glasses
✤Improvise: Don’t have glasses? Makeshift glasses shown above out of
MRE box

16. Questions
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