Source: Army Medicine News
Author: Staci-Jill Burnley
ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL, Ill. – When people think of exercise and activity safety tips, monitoring the
heat is often the first concern. While many recreational and job-related injuries and illnesses occur due to excessive heat, frigid temperatures have their own risks which must be considered to conduct outdoor hobbies and jobs in a safety-minded manner.
If you are thinking cold weather injuries only happen to the elderly or children, you may want to consider
the statistics shared by the U.S. Army Combat Readiness Center’s Risk Management Magazine. In an
article by Col. (Ret.) Joseph McKeon, M.D., he shared the case study profile of the typical service
member most at risk, and it may surprise you.
“So what does the typical cold injury patient look like? He is young, from a warm climate, has less than
18 months in the service and doesn’t yet know how important it is to take care of his feet,” he said.
“Just so you know, I’m not using your usual sexist male pronoun in that profile; the typical cold injury
victim is male, usually about 20 years old and, because he is from a warm climate, hasn’t learned you
don’t walk to your mailbox in February with no shoes on. In addition, he is likely to use alcohol, tobacco
and, possibly, medications.” If you are asking yourself what feet have to do with this situation, a look back to World War II and trench foot (also called “immersion foot”) might a be good starting point.
“During World War II and Korea, the number of Soldiers incapacitated due to cold weather injuries was
staggering,” McKeon said. “Lt. Col. (Dr.) Kenneth Orr reported in 1954 that the number of hospitalization
days due to cold injuries in those two conflicts was more than 3 million! Imagine our entire Army being
hospitalized for more than a week.” Maj. Brian Shiowaza, M.D., is the Occupational and Environmental Medicine Command surgeon at the U.S. Joint Munitions Command on Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, and agrees that proper care of feet, and other extremities, is critical to beat cold weather injuries. He explained the science behind immersion foot, frostbite and frostnip, as well as why these are high risk areas to protect.
“Cold temperatures increase the risk of exposure with prolonged exposure to both time and moisture,” he said. “Our bodies physiologically respond to cold by preserving core body temperature through mechanisms that reduce heat loss. Immersion foot can emerge after prolonged exposure to wet, cold conditions. The long-term complications of immersion foot are similar to and as debilitating as thoseproduced by frostbite.
ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL, Ill. – When people think of exercise and activity safety tips, monitoring the heat is often the first concern. While many recreational and job-related injuries and illnesses occur due to excessive heat, frigid temperatures have their own risks which must be considered to conduct outdoor hobbies and jobs in a safety-minded manner.
If you are thinking cold weather injuries only happen to the elderly or children, you may want to consider the statistics shared by the U.S. Army Combat Readiness Center’s Risk Management Magazine. In an article by Col. (Ret.) Joseph McKeon, M.D., he shared the case study profile of the typical service member most at risk, and it may surprise you. “So what does the typical cold injury patient look like? He is young, from a warm climate, has less than 18 months in the service and doesn’t yet know how important it is to take care of his feet,” he said. “Just so you know, I’m not using your usual sexist male pronoun in that profile; the typical cold injury victim is male, usually about 20 years old and, because he is from a warm climate, hasn’t learned you don’t walk to your mailbox in February with no shoes on. In addition, he is likely to use alcohol, tobacco and, possibly, medications.” If you are asking yourself what feet have to do with this situation, a look back to World War II and trench foot (also called “immersion foot”) might a be good starting point.
“During World War II and Korea, the number of Soldiers incapacitated due to cold weather injuries was
staggering,” McKeon said. “Lt. Col. (Dr.) Kenneth Orr reported in 1954 that the number of hospitalization
days due to cold injuries in those two conflicts was more than 3 million! Imagine our entire Army being
hospitalized for more than a week.”
Maj. Brian Shiowaza, M.D., is the Occupational and Environmental Medicine Command surgeon at the
U.S. Joint Munitions Command on Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, and agrees that proper care of feet, and
other extremities, is critical to beat cold weather injuries. He explained the science behind immersion
foot, frostbite and frostnip, as well as why these are high risk areas to protect.
“Cold temperatures increase the risk of exposure with prolonged exposure to both time and moisture,” he
said. “Our bodies physiologically respond to cold by preserving core body temperature through
mechanisms that reduce heat loss. Immersion foot can emerge after prolonged exposure to wet, cold conditions. The long-term complications of immersion foot are similar to and as debilitating as those
produced by frostbite.
For more details see full article
here.
