Hospital – Some Chiefs fans needed amputations after frigid game،
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Some of the people who attended the Chiefs' record-breaking playoff game in January had to undergo amputations after suffering frostbite, a Missouri hospital said Friday.
The Research Medical Center did not provide exact numbers, but said in a statement it treated dozens of people with frostbite during an 11-day cold snap in January. Twelve of them, including some present at the match on January 13, had to undergo amputations mainly affecting their fingers and toes. The hospital said further surgeries would be expected over the next two to four weeks as “injuries progress.”
The University of Kansas Hospital said it also treated frostbite victims after the game, but reported no amputations.
The temperature for the Dolphins-Chiefs wild-card playoff game was minus-4 degrees Fahrenheit, and gusty winds caused a wind chill of minus-27. That broke the mark for the coldest game in Arrowhead Stadium history, which was 1 degree, set in a 1983 game against Denver and played in 2016 against Tennessee.
The wild-card game took place the same day the Buffalo Bills were supposed to host the Pittsburgh Steelers, but that game was pushed back a day because a blizzard dumped up to 2 feet of snow in New York and made the journey to the stadium too dangerous. .
The game in Kansas City went on as scheduled because frigid weather didn't pose similar problems getting to Arrowhead Stadium, even though the National Weather Service warned of “dangerously cold” wind chills.
Frostbite can occur on exposed skin within 30 minutes, Dr. Megan Garcia, medical director of the Grossman Burn Center at Research, said in a statement responding to one of the top questions asked of her. The time frame can be even shorter in wind chills, she said.
Fans were allowed to bring electric blankets into the stadium and small pieces of cardboard to place under their feet on the cold concrete.
The coldest game in NFL history remains -13 Fahrenheit for the 1967 NFL Championship, when the Packers beat the Cowboys at Lambeau Field in a game known as the Ice Bowl. The wind chill that day was -48.
The Chiefs did not immediately respond to emails from The Associated Press seeking comment.
