A Precis of David Phillip's Article, "How Frostbite Performs It's Misery,".
In his article Phillips discusses how common frostbite in Canada is and the impact it has on your body.
Phillips found that in the past fifteen years about eighteen people have died from cold weather.Compared to seventeen people from different weather happenings each year.Tons more suffer from frostbite.
Frostbite is when skin freezes from extreme cold tempatures. Fingers,toes,ears,nose,and chin usally are more prone to frostbite because they stick out and have poor circulation. But lack of sleep ,shock,lack of food, dehydration,injury,not moving, and not having warm enough clothing will lead to frostbite also.
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Frostbite has killed tons of soldiers during wars, and combined with trenchfoot,and hypothermia, these were the worst. Now frostbite is less common because people know more about it, kids can take buses, there is warmer clothing, and better heating. For people who are outdoors alot frostbite is a serious risk.Older and very young people are more likely to get frostbite.
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Moisture and strong winds combined can lead to frostbite. The tempature must be under -0.5 ∘C for skin to freeze. Moisture during cold weather can cause frostbite because water will evaporate off skin and take away heat. Wet clothing will also take away warmth from your body. Windchill makes you cold, not because it is cold wind, but it is cold weather and wind together.Phillips says your body is inclosed in a small layer of non moving air which insulates you, but the warm layer can be taken away by wind. The cold air will get in to your body alot easier to making the body cold. Then you have a chill at a tempature of .
-20 ∘ C. This combined with a fast wind speed can make temperatures under -44 ∘C, and uncovered skin will freeze in less than a minute.
When you get frostbite, blood vessels will shrink, so warm blood will keep its heat and not rush to the surface.