The University of Kansas hospital said it also treated frostbite victims after the game but didn’t report any amputations.
The wildcard 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 blizzard dumped up to two feet (0.61m) of snow in New York and made traveling to the game too dangerous.
The game in Kansas City went on as scheduled because the weather didn’t present similar problems getting to Arrowhead Stadium, even though the National Weather Service warned of “dangerously cold” windchills.
Frostbite can occur on exposed skin within 30 minutes, Dr Megan Garcia, the medical director of the Grossman Burn Center at Research, said in a statement that answered one of the top questions she is asked. The timing can be even shorter if there is a windchill, she said.