By Matt Stuart | Published | No Comments
When the Kansas City Chiefs hosted the Miami Dolphins in the first round of the playoffs this past January temperatures were so cold and frigid, more than a dozen fans had to be transported to the hospital for extreme frostbite.
Now some of those fans could end up needing amputations in order to recover from serious damage to their extremities.
When the game was played at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, back on January 13th, the temperature at kickoff was minus -4 degrees Fahrenheit. By the end of the game the temperature was around minus -9 degrees Fahrenheit.
Many doctors advise tom limit skin exposure to less than 30 minutes anytime the temperature is below 0 degrees Fahrenheit or the wind chill exceeds minus -18 degrees.
Both of those conditions were in effect back on January 13th, as the wind chill at Arrowhead Stadium was minus -20 degrees at kickoff.
The Chiefs defeated the Dolphins 26-7 to advance to the Divisional rounds of playoffs. The Chiefs would eventually go on to win the Super Bowl, defeating the San Francisco 49ers 25-22 in overtime at Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas.
While the NFL has policies in place to protect the players in the even that an outdoor game falls below a certain temperature, there are little to almost know guidelines put in place to protect the fans.
While many teams that play in the midwest or upper Northeast have embraced the cold temperatures that can become common place in late December and throughout the playoffs in January, many have criticized the NFL for not taking a stronger stance to postpone or even move games to a different location when dangerous weather exists.
According WDAF, Dr. Megan Garcia, the medical director of the Grossman Burn Center in Kansas City, 70% of the patients admitted due to frostbite during the extreme cold weather had been advised to undergo amputation.
