Prevention of cold lesions.

If possible, avoid cold environmental conditions in which there is a high risk of cold injury. Minimize the time of contact with low ambient temperature. If you do not like extreme sensations, try not to leave the house in a severe frost unless absolutely necessary.

• - When going outside, find out the weather forecast to dress accordingly to the weather. Protect your skin from moisture, cold and wind;
• - Avoid being in the cold under the influence of alcohol or drugs (inadequate reaction to cold). Alcohol intoxication (however, like any other) actually causes a large loss of heat, at the same time, causing the illusion of heat. An additional factor is the inability to concentrate on the signs of frostbite.
• - Before going out into the cold, you need to eat – you may need energy.
• - Do not smoke in the cold - smoking reduces peripheral blood circulation, and thus makes the limbs more vulnerable.
• - Wear loose clothing - it promotes normal blood circulation. Adequate insulation with layers of clothing - dress like a "cabbage", while there are always layers of air between the layers of clothing that perfectly retain heat. Outerwear must be waterproof.
• - The right shoes. Tight shoes, lack of an insole, damp dirty socks often serve as the main prerequisite for the appearance of scuffs and frostbite. Special attention should be paid to shoes for those who often sweat their feet. You need to put warm insoles in your boots, and instead of cotton socks, put on woolen ones – they absorb moisture, leaving your feet dry.
• - Do not go out in the cold without mittens, a hat and a scarf. The best option is mittens made of moisture-repellent and windproof fabric with fur inside. Gloves made of natural materials, although comfortable, do not save from frost.
• - Use additional chemical or electric heating pads for feet and brushes.
• - Cheeks and chin can be protected with a scarf.
• - In windy cold weather, before going outside, lubricate the exposed areas of the body with a special cream that protects against cold and other adverse weather influences.
• - Hide from the wind – the probability of frostbite in the wind is much higher.
• - Do not wear metal (including gold, silver) jewelry in the cold – rings, earrings, etc. Firstly, the metal cools much faster than the body to low temperatures, as a result of which it is possible to "stick" to the skin with pain and cold injuries. Secondly, rings on the fingers make it difficult for normal blood circulation. In general, in the cold, try to avoid contact of bare skin with metal.
• - Avoid excessive skin moisture due to sweating or getting wet. Do not wet the skin – water conducts heat much better than air. Do not go out in the cold with wet hair after a shower. Wet clothes and shoes (for example, a person has fallen into the water) must be removed, wiped off, if possible, put on dry clothes and as soon as possible deliver a person to the heat. In the forest, it is necessary to light a fire, undress and dry clothes, during this time vigorously doing physical exercises and warming up by the fire.
• - It can be useful to take a pair of replaceable socks, mittens and a thermos of hot tea for a long walk in the cold. Use the help of a friend - watch your friend's face, especially the ears, nose and cheeks, for any noticeable changes in color, and he or she will be watching you.
• - Do not let the frostbitten place freeze again – this will cause much more significant damage to the skin.
• - Do not remove shoes from frostbitten limbs in the cold – they will swell, and you will not be able to put shoes on again. It is necessary to reach a warm room as soon as possible. If your hands are frozen, try to warm them under your arms.
• - If your car has stalled away from a populated area or in an area unfamiliar to you, it is better to stay in the car, call for help by phone or wait for another car to pass along the road.
• - It is necessary to use additional oxygen in conditions of severe hypoxia (for example, in high-altitude conditions).
• - In the prevention of frostbite, in addition to other measures, the knowledge of the first symptoms that signal the onset of frostbite plays a role – chilliness, tingling, numbness to loss of sensitivity, paleness, cooling of the skin, restriction in movement of the limbs! Recognize and react to superficial frostbite before deep frostbite develops!
• - As soon as you feel hypothermia or signs of frostbite on your limbs during a walk, you need to go to any warm place as soon as possible — a shop, cafe, entrance – to warm up and inspect potentially vulnerable places for frostbite.
• - Returning home after a long walk in the cold, be sure to make sure that there are no frostbite of the limbs, back, ears, nose, etc. Let loose frostbite can lead to gangrene and subsequent loss of limbs.
• - It should be borne in mind that in children the body's thermoregulation is not yet fully configured, and in the elderly and in some diseases this function is disrupted. These categories are more prone to hypothermia and frostbite, and this should be taken into account when planning a walk. When letting a child walk outside in the cold, remember that it is desirable for him to return to the warmth and warm up every 15-20 minutes.

First aid.

• - In case of frostbite in the field, it is necessary to make the right decision whether to warm the frozen tissues or not. If the environmental conditions are such that the warmed tissues can be re-frozen, it will be safer to leave the tissues frozen until it is possible to keep the limb in a warmed state.
• - In case of frostbite of the extremities, carefully, so as not to injure the tissues again due to tearing frozen clothes from the skin of the victim, take off shoes and clothes.
• - Refusal of measures aimed at premature warming of the surface layers of cooled fabrics (massage, rubbing with snow, woolen cloth, warm baths, heating pads, warming compresses, etc.), do not lubricate with oils and fats. Rubbing with snow leads to even more cooling, and ice crystals damage the skin, resulting in infection.
• - Wipe the affected areas with alcohol or vodka.
• - A heat-insulating bandage (for example, a cotton-gauze bandage and a cellophane bag) should be applied to the limbs during their frostbite.
• - Immobilization and elevated position of frostbitten limbs.
• - Anesthesia (taking a tablet of any of the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs).

Measures should be taken to prevent further possible damage to frostbitten tissues. In all cases, re-freezing of tissues should be avoided if they have been warmed up in the field. If at all possible, the frostbitten limb should not be used for walking, climbing or any other method of movement until qualified medical care is received. If the use of a frostbitten limb for movement is unavoidable, the limb should be wrapped up, a splint should be applied to it. In this case, the limb should be as motionless as possible to minimize the possibility of further injury.