How to Treat Frostbite in Children
Call for medical help., Bring the child indoors or seek shelter., Remove the child’s wet clothes and any jewelry., Raise your child’s body temperature gradually., Don’t perform any re-warming procedures if you are expecting further exposure to...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Call for medical help.
The first thing to do, is to call for medical help, call your doctor, the nearest medical care center or hospital as your child will need medical review as soon as possible, receiving the right care from a well trained medical team will decrease the chances of getting a deep tissue damage to a great extent. -
Step 2: Bring the child indoors or seek shelter.
The first thing is to get your child inside if he was being outdoors, away from the freezing weather and make sure he is staying in a warmer weather than outside, if you doubt that his feet are the affected site, carry him, don’t let him walk on a frozen feet or toes, that would increase the tissues damage.
I you are outdoors and can’t find any warm places around, try to seek any shelter that keep you both away from snow, chilly winds, or excessive freezing weather, any shelter would be better than staying outdoors in the frozen temperatures, shelters could be like staying inside a car or a truck, old house, in a tent or even in a cave! Make sure to close all windows, doors or any opening hole that can get you excessive cold from outside, you can use any piece of cloths, wooden blankets or anything in hands to cover or close the opening hole, this is important to keep the shelter you’ve entered warmer than outside, and to keep it warm till any kind of help get to you, you can ask anyone with you to ensure and check the openings in the shelter, while you can take care of your child, or if necessary; to do it yourself in quick moves. , Take off all the wet clothes that would be on the affected body part, or on the body itself because it can still decrease the body’s temperature to be replaced with dry ones.
Make sure to remove the jewelry too as a bracelet or a finger ring, jewelry may become very tight specially with skin swelling, that may worsen the condition by preventing blood from reaching the far points at the extremities. , Try to elevate his internal body temperature by adding warming blankets on his body and wrapping the affected skin area with blanket or bandage too if possible, you can use any kind of thick covers, like blankets, jackets, or coats, offering him a warm drink and trying to keep him calm and comfort is very useful too.
Avoid using any of the following to elevate his body temperature or to increase his warmth, a hair dryer, direct fire, heating pad, hot water, or rubbing his cold skin with ice or by massaging, all these methods apply a strong sudden heat that can increase his skin damage and can badly worsen his condition.
As a matter of fact; it is advisable to insert cotton pieces or small clothes between his fingers or toes to avoid any rubbing movement that can affect him in a negative way and increase his skin damage degree.
Do not manipulate any blisters that might be formed at any time on the affected skin, and prevent your child from playing with them, popping them can lead to skin infection which is another problem your child don’t need it at this time. , Exposing your child’s affected limb to a freezing conditions, then re warming, then freezing again would put him in high risks of having great permanent tissue damage, once re warmth procedures are applied; you can’t allow his exposure to another freezing conditions. , Re-warmth can be done first by placing the affected fingers for example at the underarms to gain some of the body’s own temperature, other places would be like between the groins too, frostbitten feet can be placed in another person’s stomach, in some cases; skin to skin contact by hugging him under several layers of warm blankets would be helpful too.
Then the affected limbs can be immersed in warm water (Never use hot water as it can easily burn the skin and cause further skin damage) in the range of 100 – 105 F that equals 38 – 41 C to be replaced when it get cool, don’t use your child’s affected limb to check for the water temperature, he can’t tell any difference and it can burn and damage his skin if it was hot, instead; use your elbow to check for water’s temperature, if your elbow can handle it, it is suitable for your child’s affected limb.
Re-warmth of the affected limb would regain a degree of sensation to it gradually by starting to feel some pain and the skin getting some pinky color, at this point; dry your child’s limb gently by tapping it, then wrap it carefully with a clean bandage then with a warm blanket to keep it warm.
Keep the affected frostbitten limb above the heart level to minimize swelling as much as possible, by using a cushion on the armed chair for hand fingers or elevating the whole leg on a chair or bed for feet toes. , If your child’s cheeks, ears, nose or chin were the affected areas; immerse a clean cotton towel in the warm water, squeeze then wrap it around his face.
Repeat till he gains some sensation there and the affected areas start to have pink color, then dry them gently, and keep them warm by wrapping another dry towel and blanket around his face and neck. , If you didn’t get the medical help you are waiting for, you may have to transport your child by yourself, get the assistance of another family member or a friend to carry your child to the car while keeping him warm and wrapped with blankets, keeping him calm till reaching the nearest hospital.
Remember; the faster he receives the right medical care, the shorter the frozen time his affected tissues would be exposed to, and so the lesser the damage degree he would experience. -
Step 3: Remove the child’s wet clothes and any jewelry.
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Step 4: Raise your child’s body temperature gradually.
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Step 5: Don’t perform any re-warming procedures if you are expecting further exposure to freezing temperatures.
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Step 6: Follow safe re-warming procedures for affected limbs.
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Step 7: Use safe re-warming procedures for the face.
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Step 8: Get your child to the hospital as quickly as possible.
Detailed Guide
The first thing to do, is to call for medical help, call your doctor, the nearest medical care center or hospital as your child will need medical review as soon as possible, receiving the right care from a well trained medical team will decrease the chances of getting a deep tissue damage to a great extent.
The first thing is to get your child inside if he was being outdoors, away from the freezing weather and make sure he is staying in a warmer weather than outside, if you doubt that his feet are the affected site, carry him, don’t let him walk on a frozen feet or toes, that would increase the tissues damage.
I you are outdoors and can’t find any warm places around, try to seek any shelter that keep you both away from snow, chilly winds, or excessive freezing weather, any shelter would be better than staying outdoors in the frozen temperatures, shelters could be like staying inside a car or a truck, old house, in a tent or even in a cave! Make sure to close all windows, doors or any opening hole that can get you excessive cold from outside, you can use any piece of cloths, wooden blankets or anything in hands to cover or close the opening hole, this is important to keep the shelter you’ve entered warmer than outside, and to keep it warm till any kind of help get to you, you can ask anyone with you to ensure and check the openings in the shelter, while you can take care of your child, or if necessary; to do it yourself in quick moves. , Take off all the wet clothes that would be on the affected body part, or on the body itself because it can still decrease the body’s temperature to be replaced with dry ones.
Make sure to remove the jewelry too as a bracelet or a finger ring, jewelry may become very tight specially with skin swelling, that may worsen the condition by preventing blood from reaching the far points at the extremities. , Try to elevate his internal body temperature by adding warming blankets on his body and wrapping the affected skin area with blanket or bandage too if possible, you can use any kind of thick covers, like blankets, jackets, or coats, offering him a warm drink and trying to keep him calm and comfort is very useful too.
Avoid using any of the following to elevate his body temperature or to increase his warmth, a hair dryer, direct fire, heating pad, hot water, or rubbing his cold skin with ice or by massaging, all these methods apply a strong sudden heat that can increase his skin damage and can badly worsen his condition.
As a matter of fact; it is advisable to insert cotton pieces or small clothes between his fingers or toes to avoid any rubbing movement that can affect him in a negative way and increase his skin damage degree.
Do not manipulate any blisters that might be formed at any time on the affected skin, and prevent your child from playing with them, popping them can lead to skin infection which is another problem your child don’t need it at this time. , Exposing your child’s affected limb to a freezing conditions, then re warming, then freezing again would put him in high risks of having great permanent tissue damage, once re warmth procedures are applied; you can’t allow his exposure to another freezing conditions. , Re-warmth can be done first by placing the affected fingers for example at the underarms to gain some of the body’s own temperature, other places would be like between the groins too, frostbitten feet can be placed in another person’s stomach, in some cases; skin to skin contact by hugging him under several layers of warm blankets would be helpful too.
Then the affected limbs can be immersed in warm water (Never use hot water as it can easily burn the skin and cause further skin damage) in the range of 100 – 105 F that equals 38 – 41 C to be replaced when it get cool, don’t use your child’s affected limb to check for the water temperature, he can’t tell any difference and it can burn and damage his skin if it was hot, instead; use your elbow to check for water’s temperature, if your elbow can handle it, it is suitable for your child’s affected limb.
Re-warmth of the affected limb would regain a degree of sensation to it gradually by starting to feel some pain and the skin getting some pinky color, at this point; dry your child’s limb gently by tapping it, then wrap it carefully with a clean bandage then with a warm blanket to keep it warm.
Keep the affected frostbitten limb above the heart level to minimize swelling as much as possible, by using a cushion on the armed chair for hand fingers or elevating the whole leg on a chair or bed for feet toes. , If your child’s cheeks, ears, nose or chin were the affected areas; immerse a clean cotton towel in the warm water, squeeze then wrap it around his face.
Repeat till he gains some sensation there and the affected areas start to have pink color, then dry them gently, and keep them warm by wrapping another dry towel and blanket around his face and neck. , If you didn’t get the medical help you are waiting for, you may have to transport your child by yourself, get the assistance of another family member or a friend to carry your child to the car while keeping him warm and wrapped with blankets, keeping him calm till reaching the nearest hospital.
Remember; the faster he receives the right medical care, the shorter the frozen time his affected tissues would be exposed to, and so the lesser the damage degree he would experience.
About the Author
Steven Adams
Specializes in breaking down complex home improvement topics into simple steps.
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