How to prevent frostbite?

Cold weather brings many challenges, and preventing frostbite is one of them. Children will often get carried away in winter games, without noticing frostbite warning signs. Frostbite is a local injury caused by freezing of the skin, and in severe cases, of deeper tissues (tendons, muscles, blood vessels). The occurrence of frostbite is affected by low ambient temperatures, intense flow of cold air (wind), prolonged exposure to cold, tight clothing and footwear (tight gloves, tight or tightly laced footwear).

How to prevent it?

The child should wear multi-layered cold weather clothes. Take care to avoid overheating or sweating.
Cover the affected body parts such as the cheeks, nose, ears. Provide a scarf, hat and mittens, preferably with thermal insulation and without separate fingers.
Footwear must not be tight, or too stiff in the toe area, should have good thermal insulation and be waterproof.
After an hour, ask the child to get away from the cold, have a hot beverage and change out of wet clothes.
Take off his/her mittens gloves and check for first signs of frostbite, such as stiff fingers and pale skin. Many children do not notice that their fingers are stiff and numb, or do not want to go inside because they are having a wonderful time playing outside.
Never ignore finger stiffness or numbness! They need to be warmed immediately (for example, put the hands under the armpits or on the tummy).
Do not neglect the effect of cold wind! Strong wind causes the body to lose heat faster, even when the thermometer does not show extremely low temperatures.
Do not take babies and young children outside in very low temperatures and wind!