Scouting, Volume 55, Number 2, February 1967 Page: 7
33, [8] p. : ill. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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FIRST AID FOR FROSTBITE
By DONALD M. HIGGIIMS
Director, Health and Safety Service
Statements about frostbite published this winter in
several periodicals, including Scouting's, have varied
somewhat in details. To avoid confusion, here is a sum-
mary about frostbite from up-to-date reliable sources.
Frost-nip
Numbness of toes, fingers, or cheeks followed by
tingling after they have been rewarmed, referred to as
"frost-nip." is not bona fide frostbite.
Dr. Bradford Washburn in his complete treatise on
frostbite says, "Only superficial frost-nip can be treated
effectively enough in the field to make it possible for
an individual to continue on the trail. This is the only
kind of frostbite which can be considered medically
inconsequential.
"It is usually encountered in high wind or extreme
cold (or both) on the nose, cheeks, chin, ears, fingers,
or toes. If sudden blanching (whitening) of the skin is
noticed promptly, it can usually be treated effectively
and completely on the spot by firm, steady pressure (no
rubbing!) of a warm hand, or by cupping one's hands
and blowing on the thus-sheltered spot until it returns
to normal color.
"Frost-nipped fingertips can be very effectively re-
warmed by holding them motionless in the armpit, either
of the patient himself or of a friend. Although toes can
be nipped superficially, just like the face or fingers, this
is much more difficult to identify . . . before the injury
has progressed beyond the point where it can be treated
easily and quickly.
"The only practical way to treat nipped toes or heels
on the trail is to remove footgear the moment that there
is any suspicion of danger and to rewarm them im-
mediately on the belly of a trailmate, protecting them
from wind by keeping them well covered by parka and
shirt during the process. After thawing is complete,
change to dry socks and dry insoles and lace footgear
back on very loosely in order to ensure adequate circu-
lation and warmth."
Frostbite treatment
Two types of true frostbite do real damage to tissue.
In superficial frostbite, the frozen part, obviously white
and frozen on the exterior, is soft and resilient below
the surface when depressed gently and firmly. In deep
frostbite the injured part is hard and solid and cannot
be depressed any more than wood or metal. Treatment
for both types is exactly the same.
In all cases of bona fide frostbite, the patient should
be brought to the best available camp and then to a
hospital as soon as possible. Rapid rewarming is the
best method of treatment, but the method should not
he used on the trail. Dr. Washburn emphasizes that "all
efforts at rewarming should be postponed for a con-
siderable time if this delay will ensure doing the job
properly."
Instructions given in the new book Emergency Care
edited by Dr. Robert H. Kennedy state:
"In the care of frostbite, the best method known at
present is rapid warming, but this must he carried out
in a definite way or not at all. The part should never
be thawed until a place is reached where adequate warmth
can be maintained. Otherwise, numerous complications
will occur.
"When conditions are right for the patient to remain
warm, comfortable, and at rest continuously afterward,
then rapid and thorough rewarming by immersion in
warm water should be started. Put the injured part in
a large container of water at 108° to 112° F. (42° to
44° C.). Never have the water warmer than 112° F.
(44° C.), keeping the water at the required temperature
by adding more. Do not add hot water close to the in-
jured part. The hand or foot should not rest on the
bottom, but be free in the middle of the container. Do
not keep heat under the container. Immersion should
continue only until the temperature of the affected tissue
returns to normal, that is, about 20 minutes."
Some cautions
# Never try to rewarm a frozen part by exercising it.
# Never rub a frozen part before, during, or after re-
warming.
# Never expose a frozen part to an open fire, hot water,
or other intense form of heat.
# Always keep patient warm after rewarming.
# Always handle patient as a litter case after rewarming.
Source materials
Frostbite by Bradford Washburn, Director, The Museum
of Science, Boston, Mass.
Emergency Care published by the Committee on Trauma,
American College of Surgeons, W.B. Saunders Company,
Philadelphia.
First Aid, American National Red Cross
First Aid, merit badge series, Boy Scouts of America Q
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Boy Scouts of America. Scouting, Volume 55, Number 2, February 1967, periodical, February 1967; New Brunswick, New Jersey. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth331778/m1/9/: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Boy Scouts of America National Scouting Museum.