What to do if Stranded in Cold Weather

In my first part of cold weather survival, I touched upon how difficult dealing with cold weather could be if stranded out in the elements. The ability to stay dry, warm and have the right clothing and equipment are crucial as well as your will to survive, which will definitely be tested. I discussed options for building a shelter based on where and what is around you as well key components of the United States Army and their S.U.R.V.I.V.A.L program to possibly save your life. Now I will continue this article with focal point on food, cold weather injuries, hydration and signaling for help.

It can't be reiterated just how dangerous being trapped or stranded outdoors in a cold weather environment can be. You need any help you can get and your ability to reduce or eliminate cold weather injuries are pertinent to your chances of survival. Cold weather injuries include frostbite, hypothermia and foot fungus/ swollen toes(trench foot). These are the big three in terms of must be avoided injuries as contacting one or more of these could in fact lead to your death if the will to live doesn't get to you first.

Frostbite can happen at any time and its impact can be devastating. Without real warning other than being cold and then having no sensation in ears, nose and extremities, frostbit can lead to very serious consequences like amputation. Their are basically two forms of frostbite,light and deep with the deep form being the most serious. Light frostbite is associated with the upper skin levels and is signified by a white color to your skin and loss of sensation. The deep form is characteristic of a solid and immovable part of the body that effects tissue as well as the skin layers. Caring for frostbite consists of protecting these areas especially from the cold and wind. Warm clothing and being able to move areas that can become frostbit in short time are crucial. Winking, rubbing your nose, moving your ears and blowing on your face and hands are just a few of the options to help reduce frostbite from occurring. Once you contact frostbite, you will have no feeling in that part of the body. If this loss of feeling is only for a couple minutes or so, it is probably a light form of frostbite and can be cured by placing the effected area against a warm part of your body such as under your arm or against your stomach, warming with your hands or blowing on that part of the body. Deep frostbite is skin and tissue that has lost feeling for a greater period of time. Trying to warm an area that has contacted a deep frostbite, thawed out and refrozen can cause more damage to a non trained medical person so care has to remain forefront.

Another serious injury that can creep up on you is called trench foot or immersion foot. This condition occurs from a long period of time exposing your foot to wet/damp conditions in cold weather. Symptoms such as pins and needles, tingling, numbness and pain will progressively get worse the longer your feet are exposed to damp conditions. In the beginning stages of this injury, shriveled or pruned, soggy, white skin. From this your feet will progress to a reddish then black and blue colored skin as the damage endured increases. A cold, swollen and waxy appearance will take form and your feet will take on the sensation of being heavy and numb, Walking will become increasingly more difficult and painful as muscles, tissue and skin become damaged. In severe cases gangrene can be the end result as the flesh dies with amputation being needed. Keys to reducing the chances of this occurring is to have a change of sock, keep feet warm and dry and if you don't have a change of socks, being able to remove your shoes and socks periodically to allow your feet to dry as well as your shoes and socks will help drastically. Foot fungus can also become evident with the best way of curing that being to place your feet in a smoky fire. The smoke will kill foot fungus, believe it or not!

Hypothermia as I touched upon in the first part of this article occurs when your body looses heat quicker than it can produce it. Their are various levels of hypothermia and care should be excised to reduce the likelihood of hypothermia progressing further along. In all likelihood, if you contact hypothermia, you are not going to be able to take a hot emersion bath or a hot water enema under close medical supervision, so staying warm is crucial. If you contact hypothermia where no medical facility is around, drinking a warm fluid such as honey, dextrose, sugar water, cocoa or other soluble fluid. Placing the person with hypothermia in a warm sleeping bag with another person, naked, will also help to increase the effected person's body core. Their are two dangers to treating someone with hypothermia and those are rewarming the body too quickly and "after drop". Trying to warm a persons body core too fast could result in circulatory problems and heart failure. After drop is the result of the core body temperature drop that happens when the body is taken out of the warm water and the return of stagnant blood from the limbs to the torso and inner core through recirculation. It is best to warm the person's torso slowly and try to stimulate peripheral circulation to reduce the chances of the person getting after drop.

Dehydration, constipation, cold diuresis(increase in urine output) , sunburn and snow blindness are also common with a cold weather environment so be aware and take steps to avoid these form occurring.

Food and hydration are also very important and keys to your survival for many reasons. Water is very important and you should continuously keep your body hydrated. Alcohol and coffee are not efficient and effective ways of maintaining fluids in your body! Believe it or not, your body will loose alot of water over the course of the day even if you don't exert yourself physically. Water will still escape out of your pores with the clothing you are wearing, even though you may not notice it. If you do not have containers of water available to you you could eat snow or collect rain water. Be careful with water encountered in stream, ponds and rivers as the water could be infected with bacteria, organisms and other contaminants that could make you very sick. Pure water is water filtered down through rocks and sand though you can't really be sure so it is best to boil the water if possible before drinking to kill bacteria and other parasites.

Food can be sparse in many areas of the world where cold weather is present. Especially above tree line areas of mountains, plains and barren wooded areas. Conservation of energy is important to you especially since food will be at a premium and energy will become depleted quickly compounding the other cold weather environmental scenarios. The idea of having a nice steak, seafood or chicken will probably not be part of the equation where you are. Instead you will probably more likely to feed on berries, plant life, nuts, seeds or insects. Be sure of what you plan on eating before doing so as many plants,seeds and berries can be harmful, poisonous and/or deadly. By familiarizing yourself with the Universal Edibility Test and possibly knowing what plant life is around you, you will have a better time finding food and reducing the chances of allergic reaction or worse unfolding. Being able to catch a fish or kill a quail, turkey, squirrel or other small animal by using a make shift spear or throwing device will offer you some much needed protein and fill your stomach. Certain plants, seeds, nuts may need to be cooked as palatability may be an issue. The ability to eat a particular food cooked or raw may not be the same, plus not all parts of a plant are edible. For example strawberry rhubarb is edible those the leaves are poisonous. Acorns should be boiled/leeched to reduce the bitterness and allow you to eat them whereas walnuts, pine nuts and chestnuts can be eaten raw. Pine needles offer a good source of vitamin C and some moisture and are fairly easy to locate. Anything you can eat to give you some much needed energy and nutrition is a plus!

All the while that you are trying to survive your cold weather experience you should be constantly trying to contact for help. The shortest duration of time you have to be susceptible to the harsh elements the better. Locating wide open areas, creating fires using smoky trees and vegetation(coniferous trees) and wearing bright clothing will help as well as your ability to navigate towards civilization by utilizing water ways, trails and roads. You have to everything you can to stay healthy, calm and warm while under these extreme weather conditions and your will to live will definitely be tested and many times that is the straw on the camels back that often times ends in tragedy.

Remember the Army survival code or at least this shortened version known as C.O.L.D! Keep clothing and body clean, avoid overheating(sweating), wear loose clothing in layers(wool, gore-tex, flannel, wicking material) and stay dry at what ever cost.

By following concepts in this article and similar articles regarding surviving a cold weather environment, they could save your life! However, these steps are not carved in stone nor do they guarantee your success and ability to live out in these extreme conditions but they do offer you a chance which is better than nothing.

As is the motto with the Webelos goes, BE PREPARED pretty much sums it up in this and many other experiences. Such strong words but really think about it...they make perfect sense in life and survival! I hope no one ever has to experience this extreme scenario but at least you have a better understanding as to what to do and look for to increase your chances of survival in he great outdoors!

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