37 How is hypothermia treated?
Description
This article is from the Sea Kayaking FAQ, by Todd Leigh with numerous contributions by others.
37 How is hypothermia treated?
Mild hypothermia where the body core temperature is greater than 90F
can be treated by warming the person up. This can be exercise,
replacing of wet clothing with dry clothing, getting to a warm place,
getting the victim out of the wind, etc. One way of treating
hypothermia in the field is to strip the clothes off of the victim and
place them into a sleeping bag with one or two other stripped
people. This provides the victim with a source of heat that will
gradually warm them up. If wet clothing cannot be replaced, cover them
with a layer of non-breathing material such as a rain suit and then
cover them with a dry layer of insulation. Covering them with a rain
suit will prevent further cooling by evaporation and keep the dry
layer of insulation from getting wet.
Even though materials such as polypropelene, capilene, polyester
fleece, wool, etc. do insulate when wet, they are not as efficient
when compared to dry clothing. There is heat loss due to evaporation
and conduction when these clothes are wet. Stay away from cotton
clothing, cotton kills in cold environments because it does not
insulate when wet.
Severe hypothermia is where the body's core temperature is below
90F. A person with severe hypothermia needs to get to a hospital as
soon as possible. They should be considered a stretcher case and
handled very carefully. Rough handling can induce an irregular
heartbeat that can kill them. If they cannot be taken right away, then
treat them like you would somebody with mild hypothermia. The one
thing that will not help them is exercise because at this stage they
have depleted their energy reserves so much that they cannot even
shiver. Exercise may even kill them by inducing an irregular
heartbeart.
A hypothermia victim should not be considered dead unless they are
warm and dead. Even though a hypothermia victim may appear lifeless,
get them to an emergency room as quickly as possible. Their pulse and
breathing maybe so shallow that they cannot be detected.
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