A temperature gauge shows the chilling conditions at Arrowhead Stadium during the NFL wild-card playoff game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Miami Dolphins on January 13, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo. Following the near-record cold event, Research Medical Center in Missouri disclosed on Friday, March 8, 2024, that attendees of the game were among those who required amputations due to severe cold-related injuries. Though precise figures weren't disclosed, the hospital confirmed that a portion of the 12 individuals who underwent amputations had attended the game. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)
Following the near-record cold Kansas City Chiefs playoff game in January, some attendees faced severe frostbite, resulting in amputations, according to a statement released by Missouri's Research Medical Center on Friday.
While specific figures were not provided, the hospital disclosed that it treated numerous individuals for frostbite during an 11-day cold spell in January. Among them, twelve people, including those present at the Jan. 13 game, underwent amputations, mainly involving fingers and toes. The hospital anticipates more surgeries in the coming weeks as injuries progress.
The University of Kansas hospital also treated frostbite cases post-game but did not report any amputations.
The Dolphins-Chiefs wild-card playoff game saw temperatures plummet to minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 20 Celsius), with wind gusts creating a bone-chilling windchill of minus 27 degrees F (minus 33 C). This shattered the previous record for the coldest game at Arrowhead Stadium, previously set at 1 degree F (minus 17 C) during a 1983 game against Denver.
While the Buffalo Bills were scheduled to host the Pittsburgh Steelers on the same day, the game was postponed due to a blizzard that blanketed New York with up to 2 feet (0.61 meters) of snow, rendering travel perilous.
Despite warnings of "dangerously cold" windchills from the National Weather Service, the Kansas City game proceeded as planned, as the extreme weather did not impede access to Arrowhead Stadium.
Dr. Megan Garcia, the medical director of the Grossman Burn Center at Research, emphasized that frostbite can occur on exposed skin within 30 minutes, with an even quicker onset if accompanied by windchill.
To combat the cold, fans were permitted to bring heated blankets and small pieces of cardboard to insulate their feet from the frigid concrete.
The coldest game in NFL history remains the 1967 NFL championship, known as the Ice Bowl, where the Packers defeated the Cowboys at Lambeau Field in temperatures plummeting to minus 13 F (minus 25 C), with a windchill of minus 48 F (minus 44 C).
