Military Non-freezing Cold Injury Compensation Claims

FAQs

• What happens when you sustain an NFCI?

  When a person’s core temperature falls too low the blood vessels constrict, reducing blood flow to the extremities and starving the areas of oxygen and nutrients. This is harmful even though body tissues do not freeze. If there is no immediate treatment nerve and blood vessel damage can occur, sometimes causing permanent injury.

  It is important to remember that these injuries can happen in temperatures as “high” as four degrees above freezing.

• How can the MOD protect service personnel from an NFCI?

  The military has a duty to protect service personnel from unnecessary cold injuries. This includes ensuring that training and other exercises are carried out safely, and that men and woman are:

  • Given the tools to enable them to avoid injury even in tough conditions
  • Provided with the right clothing, shelter and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
  • Fully trained in how to recognise and prevent NFCI
  • Encouraged to report signs of NFCI
  • Regularly monitored for signs of cold injury, e.g. foot inspections
  • Evacuated when they report symptoms of NFCI
  • Able to carry out duties in appropriate temperatures
  • Given warm drinks, food and sufficient breaks to dry and change clothing
  • Not required to undertake excessive physical tasks in inappropriately cold and wet conditions

• Are Commonwealth personnel particularly vulnerable to NFCI?

  Service personnel of African and Afro-Caribbean descent, including those of mixed race, are particularly vulnerable in low temperatures. The MoD has acknowledged research indicating that these groups are 30 times more likely to contract an NFCI than Caucasian service personnel.

  This variance in the degrees of exposure required from one person to another makes educating service personnel, the chain of command and MOs essential. From early Phase One training all men and women in the armed forces should be made thoroughly familiar with the signs of cold injury, and there should be frequent reminders throughout service.

• How can you prevent an NFCI?

  Cold injuries can become serious, and irreversible, very rapidly. They need to be identified and treated quickly to avoid long-lasting damage to the body’s nervous and vascular systems.

  Bolt Burdon Kemp’s experience tells us that the best way to prevent cold injuries is education up and down the chain of command. Unfortunately, many of our clients tell us that neither they nor their chain of command were provided with adequate training. Cold injuries can be prevented by:

  • Limiting exposure
  • Keeping feet and hands as dry as possible
  • Regular hot food and drink
  • Early recognition of symptoms, evacuation and treatment
  • Reporting incidents properly to help identify clusters of cases
  • Most importantly, being aware of the early signs of cold injury

  Military regulations say that instructors and senior staff should evacuate service personnel who may be suffering with cold injuries at an early stage, but these are not always followed.

  Too often, the NCO or SNCO will tell the injured person to “man up”, or persuade them to continue with the exercise. This is often because they themselves have not been adequately trained in the signs and prevention of cold injury, or because their training has not been updated.

• What are the long term effects of an NFCI?

  The effects of NFCI can vary from being mild to severe. Even mild injuries can leave long-term effects such as problems regulating body temperature. The damage to a military career and the prolonged pain can even result in depression.

  Many of our clients have problems with day-to-day living because their hands have been affected so that their manual dexterity is reduced.

  Service personnel who are discharged with a cold injury are often at a significant disadvantage in civilian life. Sufferers are often unable to work outside in cold weather, severely limiting their career options.

  Personnel from the Commonwealth will often find that, following a cold injury, they are restricted to working in warm climates. This means they can no longer follow any plans they may have made to make a life in the UK, Europe or North America.