Risk Management Magazine

There I was — right in the middle of all the action as the 101st Airborne Division rolled through Iraq in its quest to remove Saddam Hussein from power. As dramatic as that may sound, we also did a lot of uninteresting tasks during my time in Iraq, such as setting up assembly areas in the middle of the desert.

As a Soldier today, you are neither poorly trained nor poorly equipped, nor are you lacking caring leaders. So why bother writing about cold injuries? Unfortunately, it’s because they continue to happen, even though they are preventable.

Most of us have experienced the pain of a friction blister. These injuries form when an object, such as a sock, shoe or strap, is repeatedly moved across a part of the body with enough force to cause the layers of skin to release heat.