SURVIVAL IN THE COLD WEATHER                                    Prepared by: Dr. Ahmet KILIÇ      

One of the most difficult survival situations is a cold weather . Cold weather is an adversary that can be as dangerous as an enemy soldier. With a little knowledge of the environment, proper plans, and appropriate equipment, you can overcome the cold weather. Remember, winter weather is highly variable. Prepare yourself to adapt to blizzard conditions even during sunny and clear weather.

Cold is a far greater threat to survival than it appears. It decreases your ability to think and weakens your will to do anything except to get warm. Cold is an insidious enemy; as it numbs the mind and body, it subdues the will to survive.

Cold makes it very easy to forget your ultimate goal--to survive.

COLD REGIONS AND LOCATIONS

About 48 percent of the northern hemisphere's total landmass as a cold region due to the influence and extent of air temperatures. . Elevation also has a marked effect on defining cold regions.

Within the cold weather regions, you may face two types of cold weather environments--wet or dry. Knowing in which environment your area of operations falls will affect planning and execution of a cold weather operation.

Wet Cold Weather Environments

Wet cold weather conditions exist when the average temperature in a 24-hour period is -10 degrees C or above. You must concentrate on protecting yourself from the wet ground and from freezing rain or wet snow.

Dry Cold Weather Environments

Dry cold weather conditions exist when the average temperature in a 24-hour period remains below -10 degrees C.  In these conditions, you need more layers of inner clothing to protect you from temperatures as low as -40 degrees C. Extremely hazardous conditions exist when wind and low temperature combine.

WINTER SURVIVAL IN YOUR CAR

1. Talk it over before you travel. Simple planning can save you trouble and even save your life.
 

2. Prepare your vehicle. Be sure you have your vehicle in good winter driving condition. Be sure to take along the emergency equipment referred to in this booklet and keep it accessible. Never travel with less than one-half tank of gas.
 

3. Know the weather. Listen to forecasts, road reports and storm warnings. Dress appropriately. Pack extra scarves and mittens. Allow extra time for essential trips in severe weather.

4. Make it easy to be found. Tell someone about your destination and your route. Report safe arrival. If stalled, tie a colored banner (from you winter survival kit) on your antenna or hang it out a window at night and remove the lens cap from your dome light and turn it on. Road crews or rescue units can see a small glow at a considerable distance once the blowing snow stops. Use emergency flashers only if you hear approaching vehicles. Keep one person on watch. Don’t let everyone rest at the same time.

5. Stay in your vehicle. Walking in a storm can be very dangerous. You may lose your way, wander out of reach, become exhausted, collapse and risk your life. Your vehicle is a good shelter.

6. Avoid overexertion. Attempting to push your car, trying to jack it into a new position or shoveling snow takes great effort in storm condition. You could risk heart attack or other injury. Take it easy!

7. Keep Your Cool.
a. Calm down and think rationally. The storm will end and you will be found.
b. Don’t work enough to get hot and sweaty. Wet clothing loses insulation value making you more susceptible to the effects of hypothermia.

8. Keep fresh air in your vehicle. It is much better to be cold and awake than to become comfortably warm and slip into unconsciousness. Freezing, wet or wind-driven snow can plug your vehicle’s exhaust system, causing deadly carbon monoxide gas to enter your vehicle. Don’t run the engine unless you are certain the exhaust pipe is free of snow or other objects. Keep the radiator free from snow to prevent the engine from overheating.

9. Stay warm without fuel – Keep your blood circulating freely by loosening tight clothing, changing positions frequently and moving your arms and legs. Huddle close to one another. Rub your hands together or put them under your armpits or between your legs. Remove your shoes occasionally and rub your feet.

10. Don’t expect to be comfortable. The challenge is to survive until you’re found.

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WINDCHILL

Windchill increases the hazards in cold regions. Windchill is the effect of moving air on exposed flesh.

(WINDCHILL INDEX) SENSIBLE TEMPERATURE ACCORDING TO THE WIND SPEED

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BASICS  OF COLD WEATHER SURVIVAL

It is more difficult for you to satisfy your basic water, food, and shelter needs in a cold environment than in a warm environment. Even if you have the basic requirements, you must also have adequate protective clothing and the will to survive. The will to survive is as important as the basic needs.

There are many different items of cold weather equipment and clothing today. Specialized units may have access to newer, lightweight gear such as polypropylene underwear, GORE-TEX outerwear and boots, and other special equipment. If not, then your clothing should be entirely wool, with the possible exception of a windbreaker.

You must not only have enough clothing to protect you from the cold, you must also know how to maximize the warmth you get from it. For example, always keep your head covered. You can lose 40 to 45 percent of body heat from an unprotected head and even more from the unprotected neck, wrist, and ankles. The brain is very susceptible to cold and can stand the least amount of cooling. Because there is much blood circulation in the head, most of which is on the surface, you can lose heat quickly if you do not cover your head.

Keep clothing clean. This principle is always important for sanitation and comfort. In winter, it is also important from the standpoint of warmth. Clothes matted with dirt and grease lose much of their insulation value. Heat can escape more easily from the body through the clothing's crushed or filled up air pockets.

HYGIENE

Although washing yourself may be impractical and uncomfortable in a cold environment, you must do so. Washing helps prevent skin rashes that can develop into more serious problems.

MEDICAL ASPECTS

When you are healthy, your inner core temperature  remains almost constant at 37 degrees C.  

Your body has a control system that lets it react to temperature extremes to maintain a temperature balance. There are three main factors, heat production, heat loss, and evaporation affect this temperature balance. The difference between the body's core temperature and the environment's temperature governs the heat production rate. Your body can get rid of heat better than it can produce it. Sweating helps to control the heat balance.

Air movement around your body affects heat loss. A man wearing the maximum arctic clothing in a cold environment can keep his internal heat balance during temperatures well below freezing.

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COLD INJURIES

The knowledge of signs and symptoms and the use of the buddy system are critical in maintaining health. Following are cold injuries that can occur.

Hypothermia

Hypothermia is the lowering of the body temperature at a rate faster than the body can produce heat.

The initial symptom is shivering. This begins when the body's core (rectal) temperature falls to about 35.5 degrees C . When the core temperature reaches 35 to 32 degrees C , sluggish thinking, irrational reasoning, and a false feeling of warmth may occur. Core temperatures of 32 to 30 degrees C  and below result in muscle rigidity, unconsciousness, and barely detectable signs of life. If the victim's core temperature falls below 25 degrees C, death is almost certain.

To treat hypothermia, rewarm the entire body. If there are,  only in warm water of 37.7 to 43.3 degrees C .

CAUTION: Rewarming the total body in a warm water bath should be done only in a hospital environment because of the increased risk of cardiac arrest and rewarming shock.

Another method is to wrap the victim in a warmed sleeping bag with another person who is already warm; both should be naked.

If the person is conscious, give him hot, sweetened fluids. One of the best sources of calories is honey or dextrose; if unavailable, use sugar, cocoa, or a similar soluble sweetener.

CAUTION: Do not force an unconscious person to drink.

Frostbite

This injury is the result of frozen tissues. Light frostbite involves only the skin that takes on a dull whitish pallor. Deep frostbite extends to a depth below the skin. The tissues become solid and immovable. Your feet, hands, and exposed facial areas are particularly vulnerable to frostbite.

The best frostbite prevention, when you are with others, is to use the buddy system.

The following pointers will aid you in keeping warm and preventing frostbite when it is extremely cold or when you have less than adequate clothing:

Face: Maintain circulation by twitching and wrinkling the skin on your face. Warm with your hands.

Ears: Wiggle and move your ears. Warm with your hands.

Hands: Move your hands inside your gloves. Warm by placing your hands close to your body.

Feet: Move your feet and wiggle your toes inside your boots.

A loss of feeling in your hands and feet is a sign of frostbite. If you have lost feeling for only a short time, the frostbite is probably light. Otherwise, assume the frostbite is deep. To rewarm a light frostbite, use your hands or mittens to warm your face and ears. Place your hands under your armpits. Place your feet next to your buddy's stomach.

Dehydration

Your heavy clothing absorbs the moisture that evaporates in the air. You must drink water to replace this loss of fluid. Your need for water is as great in a cold environment as it is in a warm environment . One way to tell if you are becoming dehydrated is to check the color of your urine on snow. If your urine makes the snow dark yellow, you are becoming dehydrated and need to replace body fluids. If it makes the snow light yellow to no color, your body fluids have a more normal balance.

Cold Diuresis

Exposure to cold increases urine output. It also decreases body fluids that you must replace.

Sunburn

Exposed skin can become sunburned even when the air temperature is below freezing. Exposure to the sun results in sunburn more quickly at high altitudes than at low altitudes. Apply sunburn cream or lip salve to your face when in the sun.

Snow Blindness

The reflection of the sun's ultraviolet rays off a snow-covered area causes this condition. The symptoms of snow blindness are a sensation of grit in the eyes, pain in and over the eyes that increases with eyeball movement, red and teary eyes, and a headache that intensifies with continued exposure to light. To treat snow blindness, bandage your eyes until the symptoms disappear. You can prevent snow blindness by wearing sunglasses.

Constipation

It is very important to relieve yourself when needed. Do not delay because of the cold condition. Delaying relieving yourself because of the cold, eating dehydrated foods, drinking too little liquid, and irregular eating habits can cause you to become constipated. 

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SHELTERS

Your environment and the equipment you carry with you will determine the type of shelter you can build. You can build shelters in wooded areas, open country, and barren areas. Wooded areas usually provide the best location, while barren areas have only snow as building material. Wooded areas provide timber for shelter construction, wood for fire, concealment from observation, and protection from the wind.

In extreme cold, do not use metal, such as an aircraft fuselage, for shelter. The metal will conduct away from the shelter what little heat you can generate.

Shelters made from ice or snow usually require tools such as ice axes or saws. You must also expend much time and energy to build such a shelter. Be sure to ventilate an enclosed shelter, especially if you intend to build a fire in it. Always block a shelter's entrance, if possible, to keep the heat in and the wind out. Use a rucksack or snow block. Construct a shelter no larger than needed. This will reduce the amount of space to heat. A fatal error in cold weather shelter construction is making the shelter so large that it steals body heat rather than saving it. Keep shelter space small.

Never sleep directly on the ground. Lay down some pine boughs, grass, or other insulating material to keep the ground from absorbing your body heat.

Never fall asleep without turning out your stove or lamp. Carbon monoxide poisoning can result from a fire burning in an unventilated shelter.

Carbon monoxide is a great danger. It is colorless and odorless.

There are several types of field-expedient shelters you can quickly build or employ. Many use snow for insulation.

Snow Cave Shelter

The snow cave shelter is a most effective shelter because of the insulating qualities of snow. Remember that it takes time and energy to build and that you will get wet while building it. First, you need to find a drift about 3 meters deep into which you can dig. While building this shelter, keep the roof arched for strength and to allow melted snow to drain down the sides. Build the sleeping platform higher than the entrance. Ensure the roof is high enough so that you can sit up on the sleeping platform. Block the entrance with a snow block or other material and use the lower entrance area for cooking. The walls and ceiling should be at least 30 centimeters thick.

Snow House

 

Lean-To Shelter Construct this shelter in the same manner as for other environments; however, pile snow around the sides for insulation.

Fallen Tree Shelter               To build this shelter, find a fallen tree and dig out the snow underneath it (Figure 15-6). The snow will not be deep under the tree. If you must remove branches from the inside, use them to line the floor.

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FIRE

Fire is especially important in cold weather. It not only provides a means to prepare food, but also to get warm and to melt snow or ice for water. It also provides you with a significant psychological boost by making you feel a little more secure in your situation.

All wood will burn, but some types of wood create more smoke than others. Fallen trees, dried moss, grass, and scrub willow are other materials you can use for fuel.

Fires have been known to burn underground, resurfacing nearby. Therefore, do not build a fire too close to a shelter.

In snow shelters, excessive heat will melt the insulating layer of snow that may also be your camouflage.

A fire inside a shelter lacking adequate ventilation can result in carbon monoxide poisoning.

A person trying to get warm or to dry clothes may become careless and burn or scorch his clothing and equipment.

Melting overhead snow may get you wet, bury you and your equipment, and possibly extinguish your fire.

In general, a small fire is the best combination for cooking purposes.

For hot water, fill a plastic water  bottle with water and put it on fire. Your hot water will be ready in a few minutes.

For heating purposes, a single candle provides enough heat to warm an enclosed shelter.

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