Properly rendered PMP with frostbite can reduce the risk of losing frostbitten parts several times, so it is very important to correctly understand the principle by which parts of the body are cooled and create favorable conditions for the body to restore itself.
What can not be done with frostbite?
Around this topic there are a lot of myths: unqualified people on the medical side passed advice to each other on how to help a person with frostbite and assumptions, when this may happen, for a long time, and, of course, some of these advice is not only unjustified from a scientific point of view, but also harmful.
For example, some people believe that frostbite can occur only in severe frost. In fact, frostbite can occur at -30 ° C and at + 10 ° C.
The fact is that with frostbite, not so much the temperature as the wind and humidity is of great importance: if the body is wet, and on the street a strong cool wind, then frostbite can occur on any open part of the body.
Also, many believe that with frostbite you need to grind the frozen part, but this is not so: there is deep and shallow frostbite, and deep frostbite can not be triturated. Which of them happened - it is impossible to know, and therefore in any case, under no circumstances, you can not rub the frozen part: if you rub deep frostbite, then the warming will only surface. At the same time, there will be no internal blood, and the frost-bitten part will be lost.
First aid for hypothermia and frostbite
Subcooling and frostbite differ among themselves in that frostbite is only a local hypothermia. Frostbite can occur with the nose, fingers, hands and feet, and also the ears.
With total supercooling, respectively, the whole body is cooled and a low body temperature is observed.
There are two degrees of hypothermia:
- The first . The person trembles, and this is the natural reaction of the body, which thus tries to keep warm. The victim must be actively braked.
- The second . The victim does not feel cold, because the central thermoregulation in the brain stops working. It may seem to him that it has become warmer. In this case, you need to put a person in a dry heat. The effect can be strengthened by wrapping the victim with a few blankets to keep the heat. After 20 minutes, you can give him hot tea, but if the person still does not feel cold, then you can not give him drinks, because in this case the swallowing reflex can disappear and the person will choke.
Pre-hospital care in case of frostbite depending on the degree
So, the first thing to do with frostbite is to put a person or part of the body in a dry heat and at the same time avoid rubbing. This rule applies to all degrees of frostbite.
Emergency care for frostbite is slightly different, depending on the degree, which can not always be determined.
Degrees of frostbite and first aid
- Frostbite 1 degree . Emergency care for frostbite 1 degree is not needed. The organism itself will recover after a while; the only thing that needs to be done is to prevent the onset of the second degree, and therefore a slight tingling of the tissue should be a signal to move into heat .
- Frostbite 2 degrees . The first help to the injured with frostbite of the second degree is to help him "disperse blood" in this part.
For example, with frostbite of the nose you need to turn your head. At this rate, bubbles occur on the site of frostbite the next day. - Frostbite 3 degrees . At this degree, the victim should be moved to a warm room, and after 10 minutes, place the frost-bitten area in warm water, the temperature of which increases with time. In tissues, granulation and cell death occur.
- Frostbite 4 degrees . The injured person should be taken to the hospital as soon as possible, because the probability of losing the frost-bitten part is very high. While the victim is taken to the hospital, the frostbitten part is wrapped with a warm dry cloth.