Non-freezing cold injury
Meaning of non-freezing cold injury: For the purposes of this Statement of Principles, non-freezing cold injury: (a) means a disease of the sympathetic nerves and blood vessels affecting the tissues of a limb or limbs, most commonly the foot, due to prolonged exposure of the affected part to wet and non- freezing cold conditions; and (b) excludes tropical immersion foot, chilblains, frostnip and frostbite.
Reasonable Hypothesis (RH) — Statement of Principles No. 5 of 2018
At least one of the following factors must as a minimum exist before it can be said that a reasonable hypothesis has been raised connecting non-freezing cold injury or death from non-freezing cold injury with the circumstances of a person's relevant service:
- (1)exposing the affected limb to moisture and non-freezing temperatures below 21 degrees Celsius, for a period of at least ten hours within the 24 hours before the clinical onset of non-freezing cold injury;
Note: Non-freezing cold injury is most commonly associated with temperatures just above freezing.
Note: Exposure to moisture and non-freezing temperatures may occur during military training or exercises in the outdoors, but are also likely to occur in other circumstances, examples of which include the homeless, those who are intoxicated with alcohol, and those who have poorly controlled psychiatric illness.
- (2)inability to obtain appropriate clinical management for non-freezing cold injury;
Aggravation-only factors: the factors in subsection 9(2) apply only to material contribution to, or aggravation of, the condition where it was suffered or contracted before or during (but did not arise out of) the person’s relevant service.
Balance of Probabilities (BoP) — Statement of Principles No. 6 of 2018
2 factors
At least one of the following factors must exist before it can be said that, on the balance of probabilities, non-freezing cold injury or death from non- freezing cold injury is connected with the circumstances of a person's relevant service:
- (1)exposing the affected limb to moisture and non-freezing temperatures below 21 degrees Celsius, for a period of at least ten hours within the 24 hours before the clinical onset of non-freezing cold injury;
Note: Non-freezing cold injury is most commonly associated with temperatures just above freezing.
Note: Exposure to moisture and non-freezing temperatures may occur during military training or exercises in the outdoors, but are also likely to occur in other circumstances, examples of which include the homeless, those who are intoxicated with alcohol, and those who have poorly controlled psychiatric illness.
- (2)inability to obtain appropriate clinical management for non-freezing cold injury;
Aggravation-only factors: the factors in subsection 9(2) apply only to material contribution to, or aggravation of, the condition where it was suffered or contracted before or during (but did not arise out of) the person’s relevant service.
