Winter hub
Emergencies
Hypothermia and frostbite are the two emergencies winter actually produces — and both are far easier to prevent than to reverse. Learn to see them early, in yourself and in your partners.
Hypothermia: Watch the Stages
Hypothermia is a spectrum, and it announces itself in order. The classic field shorthand: a person fumbles, mumbles, stumbles, then stops.
- Early: intense shivering, cold hands, faster breathing. Fully reversible with food, dry layers, and movement.
- Middle: shivering continues but coordination and judgment slip — fumbling zippers, repeating questions, stumbling.
- Severe: shivering stops. This is not improvement — it is the body running out of energy. This person needs a rescue.
- Field care: shelter from wind, remove wet layers, insulate from the ground, warm sweet drinks if fully alert, gentle movement. Never massage limbs or put a badly chilled person straight into a sleeping bag to re-warm alone.
Frostbite: White and Waxy
Frostbite freezes tissue — fingers, toes, nose, ears, cheeks first. Caught early it is reversible; caught late it costs tissue.
- Frostnip first: skin goes white and numb but stays soft. Rewarm with warm hands or breath immediately — this is your alarm, not a nuisance.
- True frostbite: skin turns white, gray, or waxy and feels hard or wooden. Do not rub it, and do not thaw it if there is any chance of refreezing.
- Thaw in warm (not hot) water at roughly body temperature for 15–30 minutes; expect severe pain as feeling returns.
- Partners should check each other’s face and ears — you cannot see your own frostbite.
When to Call for Rescue
Calling early is a survival skill, not a defeat. Winter shrinks your margin: what is merely uncomfortable at noon can be lethal after dark.
- Anyone wet through who cannot get warm — wet plus cold is the hypothermia formula.
- Shivering that stops in a confused or exhausted person.
- Confusion, slurred speech, or repeating questions — judgment is already impaired.
- Frostbite on hands or feet, or any frostbite that cannot be protected from refreezing.
- Anyone in a group injured or unable to keep up — waiting until dark costs hours you may not have.
Do
- Give rescuers your location, group size, and conditions; stay put and stay visible once rescue is engaged.
Don't
- Do not split the group to go for help unless you have no communication at all — a smaller group is a weaker group.
Shivering stops — act now
A hypothermic person whose shivering stops is in severe hypothermia, not recovering. Handle them gently (rough movement can trigger cardiac arrest), insulate them from the ground, shelter them from wind, and call for rescue immediately.