A ZEK’S GUIDE: SURVIVING THE FRIGIDNESS OF THE GULAGS
http://ajitvadakayil.blogspot.com/2013/07/exhuming-dirty-secrets-of-holodomor.html
As soon as the frigid hair hits your face, your body will begin to respond to the bitter temperature of the gulags. As the air hits your body your body immediately begins to vasoconstrict. This is the process of your body trying to insulate itself, by moving blood away from extremities, such as fingers and toes, and toward its core. At this point you might start to feel goosebumps. The second reaction that the body has is shivering. At first it is a little shivering; major shivering doesn't start happening until the core body temperature start to decrease. Older people are at greater risk because there ability to vasoconstrict and shiver is not as prominent, so look out for your older squad members.
As soon as the frigid hair hits your face, your body will begin to respond to the bitter temperature of the gulags. As the air hits your body your body immediately begins to vasoconstrict. This is the process of your body trying to insulate itself, by moving blood away from extremities, such as fingers and toes, and toward its core. At this point you might start to feel goosebumps. The second reaction that the body has is shivering. At first it is a little shivering; major shivering doesn't start happening until the core body temperature start to decrease. Older people are at greater risk because there ability to vasoconstrict and shiver is not as prominent, so look out for your older squad members.
http://vasoconstriction.net
https://twitter.com/hashtag/vasoconstriction
When the body is exposed to cold weather there are many injuries, diseases, or negative physical effects that could happen to you. These effects vary from things such as hypothermia to things such as trenchfoot. These effects are usually classified into either freezing injuries or nonfreezing injuries. In order to survive your sentence, you need to learn how to avoid getting these types of injuries.
When the body is exposed to cold weather there are many injuries, diseases, or negative physical effects that could happen to you. These effects vary from things such as hypothermia to things such as trenchfoot. These effects are usually classified into either freezing injuries or nonfreezing injuries. In order to survive your sentence, you need to learn how to avoid getting these types of injuries.
The most common is hypothermia. This is when your body’s normal temperature of about 98.6 degrees, drops to below 95 degrees F. Once it starts to decreasing from there, only bad things can happen. At about 82 degrees F an average human will lose consciousness. If you core body temperature reaches 70 degrees F you will be dead or on the verge of death. A very severe case of hypothermia is considered to be when the body temperature can drop to below 86 degrees. The symptoms of hypothermia can start with symptoms as minor as shivering, to symptoms as serious as memory loss, slurred speech, and unconsciousness. If you see any zeks in your squad unconscious or in a haze of confusion, tell your squad leader and get him to the dispensary immediately.
http://www.skinsight.com/firstaid/firstAidHypothermia.htm
Frostnip is considered the mildest form of a freezing injury. The skin-affected areas start to turn white and will most likely be numb. Frostbite, however, is more serious. This occurs when tissue temperature falls below the freezing point (
There are also several non-freezing injuries one can acquire from being in the cold for too long. One example of this is trenchfoot. Trenchfoot is sometimes referred to as the "wet cold disease". When working in the snow, snow often gets into your valenki. If your feet (or foot) stay wet and cold for too long, that is when trenchfoot occurs. To significantly lower the chances of this happening to you while working in the gulags, we suggest tucking your pants into your valenki.
For more on trenchfoot, click here.
https://puncturerepairkit.wordpress.com/2012/05/05/trench-foot/
Wind is a huge factor when it comes to your body temperature dropping. The wind chill factor makes it feel much colder than it actually is. For instance in calm conditions at -29°C a well clothed person is in little danger; but at the same temperature, a light wind of 10 mph gives the same effect as a temperature of -44°C where exposed flesh can freeze in a minute.
ATTENTION!: STAY DRY AT ALL TIMES!
The body loses body heat 25 times faster in water than in air. If you are working on a construction site near water, steer clear from it. If you do end up falling in, get out of the water as fast as you can because it is extremely dangerous to your body.
I hope you follow these instructions in order to survive your sentence in the gulags. By the way, the longer you stay here, the more you will adapt to the frigid temperatures, producing and retaining heat more effectively.
For a much broader summary of the effect of cold on the human body watch this video:
WORKS CITED
Karriem-Norwood, Varnada. "What Is Hypothermia?" WebMD. WebMD, 11 Oct. 2012.
Web. 10 Dec. 2014. <http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/
what-is-hypothermia?page=2>.
Web. 10 Dec. 2014. <http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/
what-is-hypothermia?page=2>.
"Cold Environments- Health Effects and First Aid." Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety. Canadian Centre for Occupational Health & Safety, 2014. Web. 10 Dec. 2014. <http://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/ phys_agents/cold_health.html>.
Rettner, Rachael. "Can a Person Freeze to Death?" livescience. livescience, 7
Jan. 2010. Web. 10 Dec. 2014. <http://www.livescience.com/
6008-person-freeze-death.html>.
Anderson, Morgan L. "How Humans Deal with and Survive Extreme Cold." Cool
Antarctica. Cool Antarctica, 2001. Web. 10 Dec. 2014.
<http://www.coolantarctica.com/Antarctica%20fact%20file/science/
cold_humans.htm>.
Frostbitten fingers photo url:http://u.osu.edu/buckmdblog/2014/01/26/how-do-i-know-if-i-have-frostbite/
Detail and focused. It was interesting to know the different between frost nip and frostbite.
ReplyDeleteIt was interesting to know about the body and how it protects the main organs, by vasoconstriction where the body protects the main organ by limiting blood flow to the extremities. It was interesting to learn about the physically effect the cold has on the body such as the urge to urinate, shivering and mental aspects such as confusion and lack of coordination.
DeleteThis was really creative and informative. I had no idea that we lost body heat that much faster in water than in air. Looking over this information and knowing that the gulags in Siberia rarely had any heating, it is incredible that anyone survived. The zeks probably got accustomed to the temperatures and conditions (as you mentioned) and those who could adapt quickly were the ones who survived. I wonder if Solzenheitsyn was essentially a physical specimen. I also wonder how much the mental attitude of someone affects their chances of survival, or how much of survival is power of will and how much is physical. I am sure Solzenheitsyn had a mixture of both.
ReplyDeleteWow this blog really caught my eye. This is the only blog that is colorful and has diagrams that catch the eye, this was easy to dive into and start reading. I can't believe some of these things like how the body cools down 25 times faster in water than air, I knew it was more but not by such an extreme extent. The section on vasoconstriction also finally explained why old people get colder quicker. Lastly I throughly enjoyed the subtle humor in the blog such as "To significantly lower the chances of this happening to you while working in the gulags, we suggest tucking your pants into your valenki."
ReplyDeleteThis post was very informative and very fascinating. I really enjoyed how you made your post a guide to surviving the cold and not just a regular blog post. It is cool to understand was our bodies are trying to do when shivering or when we get the goosebumps and to realize that our bodies have a purpose behind these movements. It was also very interesting to read that our body loses heat 25 times faster than water in the air.
ReplyDeleteI really like how you chose to format your blog. It stands out from all the others and the way you wrote as if the reader lived in a Gulag was very interesting. I enjoyed the many clever references to One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. The video was very informative and a good choice as it fit right in with your topic. I liked how the blog is humorous but includes lots of information at the same time. This blog also brought back some outward bound memories because my counselors told us some horror stories about trench foot that happen when you don't keep your feet dry.
ReplyDeleteThis was a really cool blog post, I liked how you treated it as if you were directly talking to prisoners in the gulags. A lot of the prisoners in the novel experienced these fatal diseases, and I find it very hard to believe that people made it out alive. It was interesting to read about the different diseases that people could be diagnosed with in the Gulags. Reading about all the possibilities, it made me realize how truly insane the Gulags were and how severe the conditions were that they could contract frostbite or trench foot. It was also interesting to read about what happens when your body encounters cold weather, such as goosebumps, because that happens to me often as well but definitely not on the same level as the prisoners in the gulags. It was also cool to read about frostbite, I have heard it in movies but have never scientifically known what causes your body to contract it. I also enjoyed the pictures you included, it provided for a clearer understanding. Hopefully I never encounter any of these diseases and have to face as cold temperatures as the prisoners did, but it was enjoyable to read and learn about.
ReplyDelete