BUFFALO, N.Y. — On December 24, 2022, a deadly blizzard hit Buffalo and Western New York. Charles Jones was on his way to pick his girlfriend up from work when his car got stuck. He waited for 12 hours, calling law enforcement for help, before deciding to try to walk home. His destination was only ten minutes away, but the snow was so bad he couldn’t make it. Luckily, the New York State Thruway Authority called him back to let them know they were on the way to help him. Charles' uncovered left hand held his phone to his ear as he spoke to them.
"It felt like at that time, I guess, normal, because it was it, you know, it just like when I was talking on the phone, I couldn't, you know, it got bad, I couldn't bend my figures no more, so it got like stuck but it wasn’t in pain at that time," Jones said.
But there were consequences. He was soon taken to the hospital, and that’s where he saw the state of his hands - big blisters formed, which needed to be popped. Due to his heart issues, they moved him to a hospital in Rochester and he underwent surgery for both his heart and hand.
"They had to put me to sleep and do a skin graft and so they did that all this right here. My knuckles," Jones said.
He had a case of severe frostbite. His right hand had some damage too. Dr. David Holmes has also had frostbite - on his cheeks. Luckily, his was a more mild case. He says it happens when your cells basically freeze.
"What cold weather does is it constricts our blood vessels. It narrows them so that we don't get enough blood and oxygen. To our peripheral tissues, basically our fingers and toes. As so because there's not enough oxygen and blood going there, then those tissues actually die," Dr. Holmes, director, Global Medicine Program at University at Buffalo Jacob’s School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, said.
He says if tissues die a little bit, they can be warmed up and go back to normal, but if it’s more severe, extremities have to be amputated. He says Iloprost, an injection recently approved by the FDA to treat severe frostbite, can help avoid that by dilating the blood vessels. That also helps avoid blood clots, also associated with frostbite.
Dr. Holmes tells us about a study of the treatment done with two groups of people with severe frostbite that led to the FDA’s approval.
"The group that was treated with either process did not need any amputations. They did not have that gangrene effect and complication. But the group that did not get the either 60% of them needed amputations," Dr. Holmes said.
Dr. Holmes says that’s a big advantage. He says those with severe frostbite should get the treatment as soon as they reach medical care to avoid damage like that of Charles' hand. He says to avoid severe frostbite altogether, and stay inside when temperatures are extremely cold.
"No need to risk your life ... I almost lost mine out there to be honest with you," Jones said.
Dr. Holmes says those who are under the age of 18 or over the age of 65 are at risk of frostbite. There are also certain diseases that actually put you at higher risk as well like peripheral vascular disease, diabetes, arthritis or hypothyroidism. Smokers also join the list of those at risk.