- Kids should wear sensible winter clothing — hats, gloves or mittens, snow pants, winter jacket, snow boots — that is waterproof and warm, and change into something dry if their clothes get wet.
- Don't let kids wear scarves or any clothing that can get caught in a sled and pose a risk of strangulation.
- Make your kids wear helmets, particularly if they're 12 or younger. Helmets designed for winter sports work best, but if you don't have one, make sure they at least wear a bike helmet or something similar.
- Set reasonable time limits on outdoor play. Call children in periodically to warm up with drinks such as hot chocolate.
- When possible, avoid taking infants outdoors when it is colder than 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Infants lose body heat quickly.
If a child complains of numbness or pain in the fingers, toes, nose, cheeks or ears while playing in the snow, or if his/her skin is blistered, hard to the touch or glossy, be alerted to the possibility of frostbite and take the
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| Via the Mayo Clinic |
- Take the child indoors.
- Call a doctor.
- Tell the child to wiggle the affected body part(s) to increase blood supply to that area.
- Warm the frozen part(s) against the body. Hold fingers to the chest, for example.
- Immerse frozen part(s) in warm, not hot, water. Frozen tissue is fragile and can be damaged easily.
- Avoid warming with high heat from radiators, fireplaces or stoves, and avoid rubbing or breaking blisters.
WHAT IS HYPOTHERMIA?
Hypothermia is the excessive lowering of body temperature. A drop in core temperature below 95 degrees F., causes shivering, confusion, loss of muscle strength, and if not treated and reversed leads to unconsciousness and death.
Safety experts estimate that half of all drowning victims die from the fatal effects of hypothermia and cold water, not the fatal effects from water filled lungs.
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