Hypothermia or Frostbite personal stories.

[MOMMA]

Hi guys,
This friday is week one of my winter survival for kids class in the school. If anyone has any personal hypothermia or frostbite stories they can share with the kids and I, we'd really appreciate it. The children seem to absorb information that much more when it's a true life experience.

I'll be c/p ing the stories.

Thanks!!


Mom A Bear....

 

[takethebounce]

I haven't had frostbite, but I have had frost nip. It is the superficial freezing of the surface skin. I never knew there was a "frostnip" until I had it.

While sledding on a very cold day riding back to the stagging area I wanted to get back quickly as the temperature kept dropping. My handwarmers were almost ineffective against the wind and cold so I figured I would race back and be the first there to get the truck warmed up. It was approximately -20 c. With the increased wind speed from the sled it was easily cold enough to freeze exposed skin but the area I recieved the freezing I wasn't even aware that it was exposed.

I wear a balaclava and a typical MX style helmet with goggles. The area on my cheeks below my goggles and above my balaclava, about an inch was the area that froze. When I returned to the truck I pulled my helmet off and balaclava and cupped my hands over my face and my cheeks felt weird. I pinched my upper cheek and at first it felt as though snow dust had litterly built up and frozen to my face. I started to squeeze a little harder and thats when I had the odd feeling that my skin had actually frozen.

Quickly I looked in the truck mirror and the exposed skin was completely solid white. I was a little worried at first. I continued to try and warm my face with my hands and it was no help. Others arrived back and we returned to the hotel after loading up. As soon as we got back I warmed a cloth with water and continued to try and thaw my skin. Eventually the white frozen skin went away and my face was quite swollen. Almost burnt looking like a sun burn but much more swollen. The swelling remained all night. Some advil took away the pain and some of the swelling. The area over the next few days was very sore and to this day a few years later it is very sensitive to the cold.

Not that big of a story, but it certainly made me more cautious.

You can pull up wind chill charts easily on the web and Frostbite/Frostnip info. Make sure to never rubbed the skin and if you do have frostbite if there is any chance of the body part becomming frozen, don't thaw it in the first place. Frostbitten skin almost takes on a wooden, grainy look.

Also, depending on their age, you can tell them the increased effects of smoking and frostbite as tobbaco constricts blood flow making the lips of smokers more susceptible to damage.

 

[mxz sledhead]

I had frostbite my sled broke down on a lake one night had to ride another sled back home and i got frostbite on my cheeks a little bigger then a loonie it went to grey color and to a black scab it took a long time to heal it was about -30 that night I learnt my lesson there was no warning there was a problem

 

[MOMMA]

omgosh!! Thank you guys!!!! This is exactly what I'm looking for!!!!!!! C/Pd them.. Keep em coming!!!!!


Thank you thank you thank you!!

 

[frock]

Momma, does the story have to be from winter time?????

 

[bigz64]

I was testing electrical services last winter in ft mac and the temp was about -45. 45-60 minutes of working outside with not the greatest gloves my hands started to hurt.
I did a heat scan on the service to check for hot spots and i decided to check my hands. The heat gun said that my skin temp was -25 and my hands looked bluish in color. It wasent frost bite but it hurt a lot.
Since then my hands cant take the cold, so i did some sort of permanent damage with the nerves im guessing.

The pain when my hands were warming up was one of the worst i have ever experience, not fun

 

[FossY]

not really whhile sledding but biking last year september long weekend on my wa from drummheller back to battleford


390km non stop rain !!!

i was soaking wet threw the leathers and gloves

got home , off the bike and could even turn my key for the door lock

took pics after i was inside maybe 5minutes later still blue and purple hands

one of the worst bike rides in my life (and i even drove in the winter in germany)

pretty sure i had good hypothermia that day for sure was bibbering like a beaver when i got my wet clothes off

 

[MOMMA]

Momma, does the story have to be from winter time?????

Nope!! any stories will be awesome!!! Thank you!!!



You guys rock!!!

Pics even!!! Thanks Foss!!

 

[RXN]

When I was 13, we were members of the Sherwood Park Snowmobile Club, and we were having a Poker Rally at camp HE HO HA (Health Hope & Happiness) on Lake Isle. it was a very cold weekend. My Dad was a volunteer for the rally. I was riding a 1990 Ski-Doo Cheyenne, no handle bar warmers. My gear wasn't the best. there was a gap of about 2 inches between my jacket collar and bottom of my helmet. and I hated (still do) belliclava's. so I chose not to wear one. I was using my teeth to pull my coat up under my helmet, and then my breath would put moisture on the coat collar and it would freeze. Well when we got back I had 2nd degree frostbite on each check and my chin. Mom just about killed Dad. since then my face is sensitive, freeze's easy and I have got 1st degree in the same spots time and time again. It hurts but I still ride with out the proper face protection.

Some day I'll learn

 

[FossY]

ure welcome momma just show them and say "dont ever ride 400km in the rain" wasnt fun at all

 

[frock]

I was horse wrangling for an outfitter in northern BC when I was sent to the flight strip for supplies. We were flycamping for sheep and elk, had been there for about 10 days and were getting low on supplies.
It was about a 6-7 hour ride on horseback with a saddle horse and 6 pack horses. It was late fall, but when I left camp it was warm and sunny and I was wearing only a lined jean jacket, jeans, moccasins and a pair of leather gloves.

2 hours into the ride a steady drizzle started and never let up. The rain turned into snow as I started up the high pass I had to get over to get to the strip. I started to dream/hallucinate that I was on a white sandy beach in the tropics somewhere. All of a sudden I came to and realized I was in very bad shape. I was colder than I had ever been in my life and was shaking uncontrollably. I had soaked all my clothing and now it was freezing to my body and I could barely move my hands.

It took me a long time to get outta the saddle and to the ground. I was still about 2 hours from the cabin at the flight strip and I knew I couldn't get a fire going cause all the wood around was soaked and I couldn't move my hands.

I started to walk as fast as I could, I think a snail could have given me a run at that time, but within a short time I started to feel some warmth coming back and by the time I got to the cabin on the Prophet River I was warm enough to get all the packs off the horses and get them out to pasture before I went into the cabin and hugged the stove for a few hours.

 

[mclean]

So far this year I have gotten frost bite 3 times...the first 2 with a MX style helmet and goggles and the 3rd time with a modular (and a crappy balaclava)

The worst was the last time, going down the river to get to a trail (about -20/-23ish) and i noticed that my balaclava had slid up and a little piece of my neck was showing, I tried to adjust it as I was riding but didnt really work. I would have stopped but I had no clue where I was going so i kept riding and just put my hand in front of my neck when I could feel it "burning". The river run was only about 15 or so minutes but 2+ weeks later I still have an ugly scab on my adams apple that initially was the size of a loonie and hard as a rock.

Here is a couple pictures I took after about a week and a half after it happened. I can't even be out for a couple minutes not covered up without it hurting like a @#$@.

 

[BeeZee62]

Back in the early 90s I was out with some friends from northern Quebec and we were sledding around James Bay in January. It was bitterly cold, -40 and lots of blowing snow. We were heading back home after a night out and had to travel about 80 miles. There were no visible landmarks and we had departed rather late in the day and it was quickly night. My friends were riding bigger and faster machines and it was all I could do to keep their tail lights in sight. I could feel the cold air seeping in past my visor and the stinging on my cheeks and neck quickly became painful. I was wearing a balaclava under my full face helmet but it wasn't offering very much protection. I thought about stopping but I knew that the others wouldn't notice I was missing for some time. On top of that I was afraid that if I did stop and my machine quit there was a risk I wouldn't get it going. I did the best I could to follow their tracks which were quickly being covered by drifting snow. I knew that I was in trouble when the pain on my face and neck subsided somewhat.

Once I arrived back in town and walked into the house and removed my head gear everyone was aghast! Both cheeks from just below the eyes, back towards my ears and almost to my nose were black. There was a large black ring around my neck where there was the tiniest of gaps between my jacket and helmet ... the balaclava had offered no protection. It took about a month for the black to turn to scabs and fall off. I didn't snowmobile for two subsequent winters and whenever outside I had to cover the affected areas with a good layer of vaseline and wear a lined, leather balaclava to protect from the cold.

Now these many years later my face and neck still have limited tolerance to the cold and worst of all is that I have limited feeling of the cold in those areas.

 

[youngpolarisguy]

Just not to long ago here when we were in the -30's me and my friend had a little accident out on the lake in the dark and when he went to get a tow rope we all kinda got lost and couldn't find the right boat launch to get back home. ended up out on the lake till 4:00 in the morning and froze both my cheaks real bad. hurt like heck for a week. kinda freaky how fast you can get turned around never been lost till then and don't ever want to be again.

 

[MOMMA]

oh man, some of the stories are sending shivers down my spine. So glad you're all ok, but wow.
These kids are going to have a real eye opener for sure.

 

[raceu4it]

i believe it was 1985 or 86 racing the first cross country race of the season, at craven, sask. racers were for all over including the us as it was the only place with snow. was minus 25 with 30mph winds. we asked if we still wanted to race, of course young and stupid and drove for hours, we all said yes. it was a 150 mile cross country, the lead plane was clocking us at aronfd 90mph on the ditches. look story short, froze my right side of my face solid to the cheek bone, and right eye froze shut, there going your depth percipition. next morning myself and claire martin "father of steve martin, who races snocross today" awoke with are faces totalled black and swollen. oh and you might say what were we wearing, well we duct taped our faces first then pulled over a balacava, then had goggles with the a face mask with a helmet with flip up visor. my tolerance for cold weather riding now is minus 10. that's my best frost bite story. oh yea for the next week at the sled shop, parts of my face would fall off.

 

[woody_tobius_jr]

I used to play hockey on the outdoor rinks, and everyday after school I would be at the local out door rink ( just wearing a ball cap cause only nerds wore toques/helmets ) I don't know how many times I froze my ears, the skin was always peeling on them. Now the durn things seem to freeze whenever I open the fridge door.

 

[Ryano]

Around 89 I worked on a frezzer troller on the west coast the hold is generally kept around -40 with the plates being around -52 I had my turn to go in and process the days catch the guys usually went in with a good pair of icelandic wool socks and there rubber boots so I followed suit. While I was in the hold the fans to decrease the temp of the hold were on as the catch had been preety good from the day before and my boots had not dryed.(big mistake) the wind makes the temp drop to about -55 in the hold and being a green hand it took me a lot longer to process the fish. Lost all feeling in me feet after a little bit which was a bitt of a relife at the time, but when I got out and tryed to pull of my boots I found that my socks had froozen to my boots and my feet had froozen to my socks. I had to get the other deckhand to pull of my boots as they were plain stuck on my feet. I can honestly say I have never felt such pain before in my life think I sat in the cabin for a couple hours with tears streaming down my face as they unthawed.

 

[justinpfannes]

I was driving up the shore of lake superior on my way to see my now ex-girlfriend. It was about 1am and about -17° when i fell asleep behind the wheel. I continued to crash through a gaurd rail off a 30 foot cliff. There were no tire tracks for 60 feet. I have few flashbacks of sitting helpless in my car traped for 7 plus hours. I was miraculously found by very slim chance. I suffered hypathermia, that led me to strip down to my tee-shirt, boxers, and one shoe. I suffered from third and fourth degree frostbite on my hands and feet leaving the left toes to be amputated 2 and a half months later. I had shatterd my left tibea. Got a torn spleen and a collapsed right lung. After the first warm up rite as i arrived at St. Luke's my core temp was 84° my heart beat was 2 beats a minute and my breathing was so faint you couldn't evan tell i was breathing. I am very lucky to be alive in a few different ways. This whole ordeal has taught me a lot about frostbite and hypothermia.

Sent from my LG-VS410PP using Tapatalk 2

 

[Bogger]

I made my kids watch these

http://www.yukonman.com/cold_water.asp

there are 3 parts, very good info on cold weather and hypothermia survival