Family vacations in snow country can be just as healthy, comfortable, and rewarding as more traditional stays in warmer climes – if you know how to cope with the cold.
Here is what you should know:
1. Children do not get colds from the cold.
Colds come from viruses. Colds may be more common in cold weather because children are indoors more and in close contact with other children, enabling viruses to spread more easily. Feeling cold in cold weather may be uncomfortable but does not cause or worsen illnesses, unless the exposure is excessive and prolonged.
2. Feed children frequently for outdoor activities.
Winter sport activities more than double energy requirements required for watching TV. Eating between meals helps maintain heat production. Offer “trail food” mixes: raisins, dried fruits, chocolate and nuts. Raisins and fruits supply carbohydrates. Nuts supply proteins, and chocolate supplies fat.
3. Increase children’s liquid intake.
The body loses fluids by deeper breathing due to cold and dry air, perspiring under clothing, and exertion. Give water and fruit juices. These are quickly absorbed. Juice supplies calories. Avoid very sweet drinks; they can upset stomachs and are absorbed more slowly.
Sports drinks (Gatorade, for example) are effective but unnecessary for recreational activities. Beverage temperature is unimportant. While cool fluids are absorbed somewhat faster and are more palatable in large amounts, it takes few calories to warm cold fluids to body temperature. Hot drinks give only “psychological lifts.” A child would have to drink more than a quart at one time to generate significant amount of extra heat.
Discourage children from eating snow and ice. It may contain diarrhea-causing organisms. Also, a mouthful of snow yields only a few drops of water while the body uses calories to melt the snow. Ice yields more water than snow but uses up more calories to melt.
4. Keeping children dry is as important as keeping them warm.
Clothing can become wet from rain, snow or perspiration. Sweating under many layers of clothing can produce a pint of water in a few hours. Wet clothing can lose up to 90% of its insulating ability, increasing heat loss five-fold. Cold water immersion – falling into a stream – increases heat loss twenty-fold. Wearing wet clothing is no better than standing naked in the cold.
5. Proper clothing minimizes wetness from rain and snow.
Dress children in a windproof, rainproof outer garments. Wind drives cold air and moisture under clothing, carrying heat away far faster than still air. A scarf also helps keeping wind and rain out, but be sure to use short scarves. Injuries have occurred to skiers and snowmobilers from long scarves becoming tangled in tree branches. In very cold weather, wrapping the scarf around the face and breathing through it helps warm the air going into the lungs.
6. Optimum layering minimizes wetness from perspiration.
Loosely woven and loosely fitting garments trap body-warmed air, providing effective and weightless insulation. However, modern fabrics are so efficient in retaining heat that perspiration can be a problem. Add or remove garments according to the temperature and the child’s activity level. Also, as perspiration increases, open ventilation zippers, if present, take off head coverings, unbutton jackets and take sleeves out of gloves.
7. Hands require special attention to prevent frostbite.
Mittens are better than gloves. Mittens allow warm air to circulate around fingers. In extreme cold, wear cotton gloves under woolen mittens.
8. Feet also require special attention.
Feet are the furthest from the heart, have poor circulation, and are in contact with snow and ice, resulting in a lower temperature than the rest of the body. The more you try to keep feet warm, the more they sweat. Wear loose but wellfitted shoes and boots, ones that can accommodate more than one pair of socks.
Frostbite is the body’s attempt to protect itself. Blood is shunted away from the feet where it is being cooled. Instead there is increased flow to vital organs. This keeps blood warm and preserves the functioning of the organs. As flow to exposed parts diminishes, the flow becomes sluggish, and eventually blood cells freeze. Next, surrounding tissue freezes. Unless prompt and specific action is taken to reverse the process, damage is progressive and permanent.
Early signs of tissue damage from frostbite include tingling, blanching, and redness of the skin and numbness. Warm feet and, if wet, dry gently. Blow on the foot or place it against the armpit or abdomen of a companion. Never rub, exercise, or try to move it, or thaw it out if there is any chance of refreezing. Get medical assistance for serious cases.
9. Recognize hypothermia.
This occurs when bodies lose heat faster than they can produce it, and are unable to maintain temperatures of 98.6 degrees F, the temperature at which vital organs function optimally. Infants are most susceptible; they have more exposed surface area per weight and less subcutaneous fat than adults. Early signs of hypothermia are difficult to detect: very gradual deterioration in thinking processes and physical performance, poor judgment, for example. Victims rarely realize their predicament.
Hypothermia is a factor in many cold-related accidents. One tale-tale sign of impending hypothermia is shivering – involuntary muscular contractions, the body’s desperate effort to maintain temperature. While shivering increases heat production up to 400%, it is very inefficient, consuming much energy, and can be maintained for only short periods.
10. Early stages of hypothermia are completely reversible.
Seek shelter. In the wilderness, even a crude shelter – an overhanging rock – helps keep victims dry. Replace wet clothing with dry garments, blankets or a sleeping bag. Wrap victims in plastic garbage bags together with an unaffected person. Plastic sheets can also be used as wind and rain shields. Give warm, sweet fluids if victims are fully alert. Exercising or rubbing the limbs is ineffective and may cause damage to the limbs. Severely hypothermic victims should be transported and rewarmed under medical supervision.
