What can happen to someone due to long exposure to the cold?

Question

The one with the most thorough, and in their own words yet accurate answer will get best answer. Also give lots of examples, and yeah! Thanks ya'll!

Hey, thanks for your quick reason everyone. Nice answers!

Hey, peeps, I've got quite a lot of awesome answers, so unless you're answer is really different or you need the points you don't need to answer. Oh gosh, I hope I'm not sounding rude, I just mean I got the info I need so yeah! Love ya'll!

Answer 1

Exposure to Cold

Effects on the body

General information

In severe low temperatures action must be taken to protect the body and its extremities. It is most important that minor injuries be treated immediately to avoid complications. Minor cuts and skin abrasions provide a ready entry for frostbite.

Skin contact with metal objects should be avoided. Contact with steel at temperatures of -7°C and lower will cause instant blistering.

Feet should be protected from blisters, frostbite and 'immersion foot' -- a condition of painful swelling with inflammation and open lesions caused by prolonged exposure to low temperatures and moisture. Immersion foot may be avoided by keeping the feet warm and dry, which is also the only treatment possible should the complaint be contracted. When treating the feet they should not be rapidly rewarmed, and care should be taken to avoid damaging the skin or breaking blisters; they should not be massaged.

Frostbite

Low temperatures causing freezing of the fluid in the tissues results in frostbite. Its initial stages are painless and may only be detected by a companion noticing the typical white patch on the skin or by the person affected feeling a hard spot on his face; the usual parts of the face affected are the nose, cheek bones, chin or ears. Such patches can easily be cured by warming them with the hand until the frozen fluid is melted, but it should be realised that it will only be a matter of time before the trouble will recur unless precautions such as using a hood or wind shield for the face are taken. Care should be taken not to let the hands get wet with petrol or oil.

The feet are also liable to frostbite and this is more serious as they cannot be seen and the person affected will only be warned after a while by the lack of feeling; immediate action should be taken to restore the circulation. A frostbitten part should never be massaged or rubbed with snow.

Wind Chill Factor

I - Comfortable with normal precautions.

II - Work becomes uncomfortable on overcast days unless properly clothed.

III - Work becomes more hazardous even on clear days unless properly clothed. Heavy outer clothing is necessary.

IV - Unprotected skin will freeze with direct, exposure over a prolonged period, depending on degree of activity, amount of solar radiation and state of skin and circulation. Heavy outer clothing becomes mandatory.

V - Unprotected skin can freeze in 1 minute with direct exposure. Multiple layers of clothing are mandatory. Adequate face protection becomes important. Work alone is not advisable.

VI - Adequate face protection becomes mandatory. Work alone must be prohibited and supervisors must control exposure time by careful scheduling.

VII - Survival efforts are required. Personnel become easily fatigued, and mutual observations of companions is mandatory.

Clothing

If clothing gets wet in any way, or if hoar frost, which is almost invisible, settles on it, it should be dried as soon as possible. Perspiration should be avoided since it soaks into the clothing and ruins insulation qualities, as will any form of moisture. Before, starting arduous work, clothing should be removed or opened up so that work is commenced 'cold'. As the work progresses, clothing should be replaced or closed up until a comfortable body temperature is reached.

Panting, and the intake of large masses of cold air, can lead to internal frostbite, and should therefore be avoided. Frequent rest between spells of labour and breathing only through the nose will help in this respect. A muffler or scarf worn across the lower part of the face will also be of value.

Gloves should be worn continually, even for delicate jobs. They should always be worn on harness round the neck with a cross-piece to prevent loss.

Snow-blindness

Ultra-violet light burning the cornea of the eye causes snow-blindness. The ultra-violet light reflected from snow and ice must be excluded from the eyes whenever the sun is above the horizon by wearing protective goggles or glasses.

In emergency, effective substitute goggles can be made with cardboard or any other material cut into two ovals, with narrow horizontal eye-slits and held in position with string or cloth. Some protection may also be gained by blackening the face about the eyes, nose and cheeks with dirt, charcoal or soot. One can become snow-blind in overcast or cloudy conditions as easily as in direct sun since the ultra-violet light is always present; one attack predisposes to another. Symptoms appear some time after exposure when the eyes smart and water, and soon feel as though they are full of sand, and even blinking is painful. Severe pain will last at least 24 hours, and during this time it is best to remain in darkness, or keep the eyes bandaged.

Hypothermia

Under normal circumstances when wearing adequate protective clothing hypothermia, which is the term for an abnormally low body temperature, is unlikely to occur to a healthy individual. But in extreme conditions when exhaustion occurs, or when the insulative properties of clothing are impaired through tearing or wetting from sweat or water, or when the body is immobilised because of injury, hypothermia is quite likely to occur. lt may be recognised by an intense feeling of cold; abnormal behaviour patterns, unco-ordinated muscle movements which may result in stumbling and the like, culminating in unconsciousness and death.

Treatment consists of removing the victims from the hypothermia environment, ie shelter, remove wet clothing and replace with dry, wrap in blankets to insulate from the cold, and provide some extra heat for the body. If conscious, give plenty of hot sweet drinks and food if possible. Victims are very likely to suffer relapses unless special precautions are taken.

Immersion

General information

In polar waters the dangers of immersion experienced elsewhere are accentuated by the colder water. Without special clothing such as immersion suits, even short periods of immersion in extremely cold water can be fatal. Arrangements for abandoning ship should make provision therefore for entry into lifeboats or liferafts by scrambling nets or other means without entering the water.

The clothing worn, morale, physical fitness, injury or loss of body heat at the time of immersion may to cause wide variations in the times of survival from unconsciousness or from death.

For further details see, A Pocket Guide to Cold Water Survival, published by IMO.

Approximate likely times of survival of those immersed in light clothing are as follows:

Water Temp. (°C)Survival Time
0°20 minutes to 1.5 hours.
5°30 minutes to 2.5 hours.
10°1 hour to 4 hours.
15°Unconsciousness may occur about 2 hours after immersion but death may not result even after several hours.
20°Neither unconsciousness nor death may result from cold exposure.

Rescuers of victims of drowning in cold water must persist with resuscitation attempts for even longer than after warm water drowning. One to two hours is recommended. Signs of life are harder to detect because cold slows all the body's functions, and a cold victim has more chance of surviving a long period before the heart is restarted.

It is not uncommon for survivors, apparently unharmed when rescued from the sea at low or even moderate temperatures, to die subsequently from heart failure attributed to hypothermia.

Answer 2

Herpes is a very unpredictable creature who's symptoms vary dramatically from person to person. Some people do experience cold/flu like symptoms, some don't. The cold/flu symptoms are a result of a weakened immune system, whether you have Herpes or not. A weakened immune system contributes to an outbreak as well as a whole slew of other conditions. Soooo. just because your partner is experiencing cold symptoms doesn't mean they have Herpes. Best advice, if you think you are exposed to Herpes, get tested.

Answer 3

long exposure to the cold can cause
Hypothermia ...which can also lead to loseing limbs ..hands feet as the blood stops flowing and the limbs die
Phneumonia ....as a result of the sudden drop in blood temperature all the vital organs will shut down this causes breatheing problems and the lungs fill with moisture causeing phneumonia

Answer 4

Let's see: For starters, being in the cold will run down your immune system. That just opens the door for colds, flu, pneumonia, etc. Being exposed to cold can also cause frostbite if it's cold enough and you're dealing with exposed skin. Finally, being out in the cold too long can lead to hypothermia, which is a condition where your body temperature drops way below normal. It's dangerous because your body can go into shock if this happens, and it can kill you. There have been cases where hypothermia kept people alive when they would have otherwise died had their body temperatures been normal, but that's rare.

Answer 5

It depends on how cold it is and how long you are exposed. If it is not too cold then probably you will just get pneumonia or a bad cold. But if it is extremely cold then probably you will get hypothermia and then frostbite will set in. Depending on how long it is until frostbite is treated then you could lose a toe or finger or whatever got frostbitten! Hypothermia on the other hand causes your internal organs to begin to shut down, so once you get hypothermia you are in trouble!

Answer 6

With every day pass, our country is getting into more and more trouble. The inflation, unemployment and falling value of dollar are the main concern for our Government but authorities are just sleeping, they don’t want to face the fact. Media is also involve in it, they are force to stop showing the real economic situation to the people. I start getting more concern about my future as well as my family after watching the response of our Government for the people that affected by hurricane Katrina.

According to recent studies made by World Bank, the coming crisis will be far worse than initially predicted. So if you're already preparing for the crisis (or haven't started yet) make sure you watch this video at http://www.familysurvival.tv and discover the 4 BIG issues you'll have to deal with when the crisis hits, and how to solve them fast (before the disaster strikes your town!) without spending $1,000s on overrated items and useless survival books.

Answer 7

Your skin turns purple
Your body turns into a ice cube

Look for frostbite in your feet
Your face will suffer rictus mortis
You won't be able to feel your fingers

Even your thoughts will frozen.........

Answer 8

Obviously they will get hypothermia and frost bite. If the frost bite is bad enough then you may lose limbs to amputation...that's if you get to a hospital. Eventually your organs will shut down and you will die.

Answer 9

you will get frost bite, hypothermia, the inner body temps drop, you become dazed and confused, you can freeze your lungs, you get to where you can not shiver any more, then you can die.

Answer 10

They might freeze.
Or get a cold.
Or be hit by pneumonia.
They might even die.

Answer 11

frost bite