Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Fans at Frigid Chiefs Playoff Game Underwent Amputations, Hospital Confirms
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 1 year ago on
March 9, 2024

Share

Temperature for the Dolphins-Chiefs playoff game was minus 4 degrees with a windchill of minus 27.

The amputations involved mostly fingers and toes.

More surgeries expected over the next two to four weeks as “injuries evolve.”


KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Some of the people who attended the near-record cold Kansas City Chiefs playoff game in January had to undergo amputations, a Missouri hospital said Friday.

Research Medical Center didn’t provide exact numbers but said in a statement that some of the 12 people who had to undergo amputations after the cold snap had been at the game. The amputations involved mostly fingers and toes. The hospital said more surgeries are expected over the next two to four weeks as “injuries evolve.”

The University of Kansas Hospital said it also treated frostbite victims after the game but didn’t report any amputations.

Windchill of Minus-27 Degrees

The temperature for the Dolphins-Chiefs wild-card playoff game was minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit, and wind gusts made for a windchill of minus 27 degrees F. That shattered the record for the coldest game in Arrowhead Stadium history, which had been 1 degree F, set in a 1983 game against Denver and matched in 2016 against Tennessee.

The wild-card game was played the same day the Buffalo Bills were supposed to host the Pittsburgh Steelers, but that game was pushed back a day because a snowstorm in New York made traveling to the game too dangerous.

The game in Kansas City went on as scheduled because the frigid weather didn’t present similar problems getting to Arrowhead Stadium.

While a blizzard dumped up to 2 feet of snow in Buffalo that weekend, the snow wasn’t the problem in Kansas City, where the big concern was what the National Weather Service called “dangerously cold” windchills.

Frostbite Can Occur in 30 Minutes

Frostbite can occur on exposed skin within 30 minutes, said Dr. Megan Garcia, the medical director of the Grossman Burn Center at Research, in answering one of the top questions she is asked. The timing can be even shorter if there is a windchill, she said.

Fans were allowed to bring heated 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 minus 13 Fahrenheit for the 1967 NFL Championship when the Packers beat the Cowboys at Lambeau Field in a game that came to be known as the Ice Bowl. The windchill that day was 48 below zero.

 

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

4 Million Acres of California Forests Could Lose Protection. What Trump’s ‘Roadless Rule’ Repeal Could Do

DON'T MISS

Israeli Settlers Raid West Bank Town, Troops Kill 3 Palestinians

DON'T MISS

West Nile Virus Detected in Mosquitoes in Fresno County

DON'T MISS

Trump Says Netanyahu’s Trial Should Be Canceled

DON'T MISS

St. Agnes’ New Chief Medical Officer Is a Kidney Care Expert

DON'T MISS

US Military to Create Two New Border Zones, Officials Say

DON'T MISS

Trump Signals US May Ease Iran Oil Sanction Enforcement to Help Rebuild Country

DON'T MISS

CIA Says Intelligence Indicates Iran’s Nuclear Program Severely Damaged

DON'T MISS

Upscale Woodward Park Area Apartments Sell for $19 Million

DON'T MISS

Wired Wednesday: Learn the Latest on the Caleb Quick Murder Hearings

UP NEXT

Israeli Settlers Raid West Bank Town, Troops Kill 3 Palestinians

UP NEXT

West Nile Virus Detected in Mosquitoes in Fresno County

UP NEXT

Trump Says Netanyahu’s Trial Should Be Canceled

UP NEXT

St. Agnes’ New Chief Medical Officer Is a Kidney Care Expert

UP NEXT

US Military to Create Two New Border Zones, Officials Say

UP NEXT

Trump Signals US May Ease Iran Oil Sanction Enforcement to Help Rebuild Country

UP NEXT

CIA Says Intelligence Indicates Iran’s Nuclear Program Severely Damaged

UP NEXT

Upscale Woodward Park Area Apartments Sell for $19 Million

UP NEXT

Wired Wednesday: Learn the Latest on the Caleb Quick Murder Hearings

UP NEXT

Trump Administration Orders CA to Strip Trans Athlete of Medals

Trump Says Netanyahu’s Trial Should Be Canceled

9 hours ago

St. Agnes’ New Chief Medical Officer Is a Kidney Care Expert

10 hours ago

US Military to Create Two New Border Zones, Officials Say

10 hours ago

Trump Signals US May Ease Iran Oil Sanction Enforcement to Help Rebuild Country

10 hours ago

CIA Says Intelligence Indicates Iran’s Nuclear Program Severely Damaged

11 hours ago

Upscale Woodward Park Area Apartments Sell for $19 Million

12 hours ago

Wired Wednesday: Learn the Latest on the Caleb Quick Murder Hearings

13 hours ago

Trump Administration Orders CA to Strip Trans Athlete of Medals

13 hours ago

Three Mile Island Nuclear Plant Reboot Fast-Tracked to 2027

13 hours ago

Democratic Lawmaker Pleads Not Guilty to Assaulting US Agents at Immigration Center

13 hours ago

4 Million Acres of California Forests Could Lose Protection. What Trump’s ‘Roadless Rule’ Repeal Could Do

This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. The Trump administration’s plan to repeal a rule prohibiti...

9 hours ago

Tahoe National Forest
9 hours ago

4 Million Acres of California Forests Could Lose Protection. What Trump’s ‘Roadless Rule’ Repeal Could Do

Palestinians gather to receive aid supplies in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip, June 17, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
9 hours ago

Israeli Settlers Raid West Bank Town, Troops Kill 3 Palestinians

West Nile virus mosquito
9 hours ago

West Nile Virus Detected in Mosquitoes in Fresno County

President Donald Trump meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, U.S., April 7, 2025. (Reuters File)
9 hours ago

Trump Says Netanyahu’s Trial Should Be Canceled

10 hours ago

St. Agnes’ New Chief Medical Officer Is a Kidney Care Expert

A U.S. Border Patrol vehicle patrols along the border wall, following the establishment of a 260-mile military zone along the southern U.S. border in New Mexico and Texas as part of the Trump administration's crackdown on immigration, in Sunland Park, New Mexico, U.S., May 20, 2025. (Reuters File)
10 hours ago

US Military to Create Two New Border Zones, Officials Say

Oil tankers pass through the Strait of Hormuz, December 21, 2018. (Reuters File)
10 hours ago

Trump Signals US May Ease Iran Oil Sanction Enforcement to Help Rebuild Country

CIA Director John Ratcliffe speaks during an interview at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 30, 2025. (Reuters File)
11 hours ago

CIA Says Intelligence Indicates Iran’s Nuclear Program Severely Damaged

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend