With the road networks improving in Pakistan, winter tourism has seen a boom, especially this season. But it has also exposed tourists to the little known dangers of hypothermia and suffocation in the car.
The deaths in Murree on Friday night were caused by either of the two, experts have said.
The tourists were stranded on roads in their cars amid a snowstorm and were found dead on Saturday morning.
They reportedly died of hypothermia. In other words, they froze to death.
However, there is another possibility that they died of suffocation in their cars. This type of suffocation is caused usually when a car is trapped in the snow.
This second danger is more deadly because people never see it coming. Not even when they meet their death.
Winter tourism has great potential for Pakistan’s tourism industry, but only when safety and environmental concerns have been addressed. Take a lax approach and you lose everything.
For example, just a day before the Murree disaster, the government was citing the increased number of tourists in Murree as evidence of its economic success. Now, it is telling people to stay at home.
Most of the people who perished on Friday night were found dead in four cars on the Kuldana Road in Murree.
It was knee-deep snow and cars appeared half-buried in it.
Thick white layers of snow were also seen on the roofs, windscreens, trunks and bonnets of the cars.
The temperature fell below -5˚C or below on Friday night.
Hypothermia
Intense cold can cause death in the same way intense heat proves fatal, according to experts.
Javed Akram, a health expert, told SAMAA TV on Saturday that it’s likely that the tourists who died in Murree suffered from hypothermia.
The human body is designed to operate on an average temperature of 37.0 Celsius (98.6 Fahrenheit). A large deviation from this average is deadly.
Hypothermia kicks in when the temperature of the body drops below 28 degrees Celsius, says Dr Akram.
Due to immense cold, the vessels of the body contract disrupting the flow of blood.
The human body finds itself in desperate need of oxygen.
Thyroid glands release hormones increasing metabolism, and you feel hungry.
Heartbeat increases and blood pressure can also rise.
As muscles contract, you may begin to shiver.
The brain becomes cold or numb and you feel sleepy.
This is the last stage. If you don’t act promptly or no help arrives, you may die.
Suffocation in car
People stranded in a snowstorm can avoid hypothermia when they see it coming and act promptly. But, the other danger is too imperceptible.
In a snowstorm, people prefer to sit in their cars with the engine running and the heater on to keep warm.
You don’t realize that snow has gradually clogged up your car’s tailpipe.
This forces the carbon monoxide in the exhaust back into the car, where it can quickly fill the relatively small space, namely the passenger cabin.
Carbon monoxide binds to haemoglobin in your blood in the spot where oxygen normally hitches a ride, but unlike oxygen, the carbon monoxide molecule doesn’t get released.
As you breathe in more carbon monoxide, fewer of your haemoglobin proteins can bind with oxygen and you slowly suffocate.
The deadly thing about carbon monoxide is that you don’t realize when it suffocates you. It is colourless and odourless, which makes it difficult to know what’s happening.
If you find yourself getting sleepy while trapped in the car, it’s probably carbon monoxide poisoning.
Dr Nadeem Khawaja says this is the more likely cause of deaths in Murree on Friday night.
How to avoid dangers
Here are some ways you can protect yourself from hypothermia and suffocation in the car.
- If you’re stuck in your car, get out to check that the tailpipe is clear every time you want to turn the engine back on.
- Don’t sleep with the heater on in your car.
- Wear warm clothes – a lot of layers.
- Use the heater if inside the car but when temperatures drop below the freezing point that doesn’t work. Instead, get out of cars and seek comfort in a warm place. Use fire.
- Be well-prepared if you’re on the roads. Fill up your fuel tanks.
- For locals, these people are usually well-prepared. Its best residents keep themselves active. When you stay in one place, chances of frostbites increase.
- Emergency centres are very important. Distribute hot water bottles to people trapped. If you feel someone is losing consciousness due to hypothermia, keep a hot water bottle under their arms or on the groin.
- Don’t travel after sunset.
- Keep separate blankets.
- Don’t take young children or elders with you on winter journeys. They are more vulnerable to both hypothermia and suffocation.
- People who have diabetes or asthma should also avoid journeys in snow.
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