Hypothermia: A Good Review...

[graybeard]

Signs and symptoms of hypothermia include:

Shivering.
Slurred speech or mumbling.
Slow, shallow breathing.
Weak pulse.
Clumsiness or lack of coordination.
Drowsiness or very low energy.
Confusion or memory loss.
Loss of consciousness.

Symptoms of hypothermia include:

Initial hunger and nausea will give way to apathy as the core body temperature drops.
The next symptoms develop and are confusion, lethargy, slurred speech, loss of consciousness, and coma.
Often the affected person will lie down, fall asleep, and die.

First-aid

Be gentle. When you're helping a person with hypothermia, handle him or her gently. ...
Move the person out of the cold. ...
Remove wet clothing. ...
Cover the person with blankets. ...
Insulate the person's body from the cold ground. ...
Monitor breathing. ...
Provide warm beverages. ... NO ALCOHOL
Use warm, dry compresses.

Alcohol can make you think that you’re warm. But the balmy glow and red cheeks that come with a drink are deceptive.

“When you drink, it dilates the peripheral blood vessels near your skin, which means more blood – and heat – flows to these vessels,”. “That takes blood and heat away from the core of your body.
So while it feels like you’re warm because your skin is warm, your vital organs aren’t as warm as you might think they are.

“If you then go out in the cold after drinking, because you’ve got a lot of heat on the periphery of your body, you can lose heat very easily and quickly. And that can be dangerous.”

Be safe.........

[lyallpeder]

Most important thing is to realize your not just cold and it’s time to quit hunting and get warm.

[Drewski Canuck]

Graybeard,

You got it almost right. You stated WARM DRY COMPRESSES, which is an external source of warmth. It may not be enough.

At a certain point the body CANNOT generate its own heat. Leaving someone in a sleeping bag is not going to do it, and if there is not enough heat source, warm compresses are not enough.

BE PREPARED TO GET DOWN TO YOUR UNDERWEAR AND GET THE VICTIM STRIPPED OFF AND APPLY YOUR BODY HEAT IN A SLEEPING BAG TO THE VICTIM. KEEP TALKING WITH THE VICTIM SO YOU CAN MONITOR IF THEY ARE RECOVERING.

A warm tub of water left to run to a hot tub of water so you do not induce shock is also an alternative.

Hypothermia is insidious. You don't realize it until it overcomes you, and then it may be too late.

It does not need to be -40 C either. Often it is around freezing to single digit - temps when it happens.

Suffered it twice, and went past shivering. Not fun.

Drewski

[graybeard]

Drewski;

To start with, I tip my hat to your knowledge...I hope others will follow.

I found the dry compress got me out of my situation, a warm truck; and a good hunting buddy.....

I wear a lanyard with my keys around my neck. I was so cold I would have needed several attempts to open my truck door, if possible?

Twenty five plus years ago, me and a buddy were out elk hunting and crossing the Elbow River one cold morning.
I slipped face first into the river, about 3' from shore and was soaked to the bone.
I had a 1/4 mile walk back to the truck and it was -20C.

By the time I got to the truck all my clothing was frozen solid. I did not have the coordination to take the lanyard off so my buddy tore it from my neck and started the truck.
With the truck now running he took his knife out to cut my clothes off; and I am naked.

He grabbed my duffel bag of back-up clothes and with his help, I re dressed.
I was so cold and chattering that I couldn't talk and standing was a challenge.

Now freshly clothed, he wrapped me in a sleeping bag as I sat in the truck and with his assistance, I drank warm water. I was a wreck.

Had I been by myself, who knows what the out come may have been? I suffered the classic signs of; Shivering, Slurred speech, Shallow breathing, Clumsiness and lack of coordination, Drowsiness, Confusion.....It seemed to take forever to get normal.

In review, all you can do is prepare for the unexpected. Those new hand/toe warmed now on the market are a game saver. However the thermometer still drops and the water still freezes...

It was not my day to die....I have learned a lot from that experience...

[Whiskey Wish]

I was taught during a survival course in the early 80's taught by Vern Cottrell that the self check for hypothermia is the ability to touch the tip of your baby finger to the tip of your thumb on the same hand.

Try it now while you are warm. Simple.
Once hypothermia starts to set in it becomes difficult.
Once you are there it is impossible.

If you notice this effect while outside seek shelter and heat immediately.

[Yycadm]

I’m a volunteer SAR tech, and the Feds funded a video on hypothermia for training purposes for SAR teams. It’s an online course; you can write an exam at the end and get certified.

It’s called “Baby it’s cold outside” www.bicorescue.com
It covers identification of hypothermia, preliminary treatment, packaging and transport. I honk it’s critical info to have if you spend any time outdoors in cool or cold weather. I can’t even count how many times we’ ve found “outdoorsmen” in REALLY bad shape, completely dismissing the though they might be hypothermic...it can and does happen in the middle of summer, and it kills people every year.

The program is well worth watching

[Drewski Canuck]

THANK YOU to everyone who posted on here.

A lot of people who go to the outdoors are not aware of this very silent killer.

All the points are very valid, and are good reading even for an experienced person to remember.

I used to do instruction for a cub / scout group and every year the kids laughed at the thought of pressing their warm bodies to someone's cold body.

I sure hope some of them remember in case they have to use these techniques in their lives.


Drewski

[graybeard]

It been a year since the last post and yet still a good reminder especially in light of losing a fellow fisherman, only a few weeks back...

Be careful and good luck..........

[Grizzly Adams]

Originally Posted by lyallpeder

Most important thing is to realize your not just cold and it’s time to quit hunting and get warm.

There it is, better do it while you're still in control.

Grizz

[Hooter]

Originally Posted by Whiskey Wish

I was taught during a survival course in the early 80's taught by Vern Cottrell that the self check for hypothermia is the ability to touch the tip of your baby finger to the tip of your thumb on the same hand.

Try it now while you are warm. Simple.
Once hypothermia starts to set in it becomes difficult.
Once you are there it is impossible.

If you notice this effect while outside seek shelter and heat immediately.

This is something I never knew. I’m going to give it a try when I’m cold just to see.... Hopefully I’m not at the point of hypothermia when I do it though!!!

[Twobucks]

It’s also a good reminder that all kinds of dangerous situations can be avoided in the woods by thinking ahead about your condition, strength, warmth and energy. Identify and fix problems before they are problems.

Play safe kids!

[Red Bullets]

Originally Posted by Whiskey Wish

I was taught during a survival course in the early 80's taught by Vern Cottrell that the self check for hypothermia is the ability to touch the tip of your baby finger to the tip of your thumb on the same hand.

Try it now while you are warm. Simple.
Once hypothermia starts to set in it becomes difficult.
Once you are there it is impossible.

If you notice this effect while outside seek shelter and heat immediately.

I was going to mention this same finger hypothermia indicator. It is very much a concern for anything outdoors. Once your hands stop working there is no making a fire using lighters or matches. It's wiser to make a fire before and during the activity and avoid the problem entirely.

[Bushleague]

Originally Posted by Drewski Canuck

Graybeard,

You got it almost right. You stated WARM DRY COMPRESSES, which is an external source of warmth. It may not be enough.

At a certain point the body CANNOT generate its own heat. Leaving someone in a sleeping bag is not going to do it, and if there is not enough heat source, warm compresses are not enough.

BE PREPARED TO GET DOWN TO YOUR UNDERWEAR AND GET THE VICTIM STRIPPED OFF AND APPLY YOUR BODY HEAT IN A SLEEPING BAG TO THE VICTIM. KEEP TALKING WITH THE VICTIM SO YOU CAN MONITOR IF THEY ARE RECOVERING.

A warm tub of water left to run to a hot tub of water so you do not induce shock is also an alternative.

Hypothermia is insidious. You don't realize it until it overcomes you, and then it may be too late.

It does not need to be -40 C either. Often it is around freezing to single digit - temps when it happens.

Suffered it twice, and went past shivering. Not fun.

Drewski

Very true, I like to keep my self on "the cool side of comfortable" when on the trail and a couple times when winter camping I've had trouble generating enough heat to warm up in my sleeping bag at the end of the day, and I didn't even consider myself to be Hypothermic at that point.

Worst I ever had it was when I broke a snowshoe and had to crawl almost a kilometer back to my truck. My hands kept breaking through the crust, dumping me face first into the snow, I couldn't touch the bottom so getting back up was difficult. Because I had ditched my snowshoes when I broke them (big mistake in hindsight) I ended up taking my coat off to use as floatation for my hands. It took me 8 hours to stop shivering violently after I got home... which brings me to my next point...

Wife got home and found me tucked in a sleeping bag sitting next to a roaring fire and shivering like crazy, as I said about 8 hours after getting home. I had tried taking a hot shower, I had tried drinking hot drinks and I simply couldn't warm up, as well I was beginning to run a fever and I could feel a nasty sore throat developing. My wife fixed me up a hot water bottle (hadn't thought of it) I lay down under a blanket and stuck it under my head for as long as I could stand, then moved it down a little and so on... by the time it had reached my toes I felt like a million bucks. No shivering, no fever, no sore throat... and literally in a matter of minuets. Almost seemed like magic.

So if I need to treat myself for a case of mild or near hypothermia, the hot water bottle has become my go-to. For me this condition is usually brought on by pushing my self way too hard snowshoeing in the back country, and besides helping warm up, I usually wake up the next day with minimal soreness.