By Lauren Lazarevski, RN, BSN, CWOCN
Up here in Western New York, we are still “digging out” – literally and metaphorically - from the historic blizzards and freezing temperatures that have hit our area. While we are no strangers to snow and subzero temperatures, the rapid deterioration seen in our recent storm posed a swift and formidable risk to the many residents who quickly found themselves stranded. Predictably, we still are seeing an increase in frostbite cases related to the weather event. I’ve summarized the guiding principles we’ve used to develop treatment guidelines for our patients suffering from the unfortunate effects of frostbite, but first, below is some background on this condition.