2010-01-10 - How to treat hypothermia

Hypothermia isn't that big of a risk in Boston- most of the time- but it's still a good piece of knowledge to have while living in a part of the world where the weather tries to kill you on an annual basis.

Etymology: hypo, meaning below or under- thermo, meaning hot or heat. Hypothermia is a condition of a lowered core temperature. It's typically associated with the winter months but it's a real threat any time you're exposed to low temperature for an extended period of time. Camping and hiking or being exposed to the elements is enough- the risk increases with wet conditions and windy conditions.

Identifying hypothermia is easy if you know what to look for. It's also important to know when to look for it. Hypothermia has a lot of shared symptoms so be aware of the situation and your surroundings. Hypothermia sets in in different stages- as your core temperature lowers gradually your symptoms will progress. The really obvious ones are things like shivering, discoloration of skin (flow of blood to your extremities is limited as the body tries to maintain core temperature), lack of motor skills with your hands, *goosebumps, and fatigue. Once things start getting serious you get a whole new list of symptoms. Your breathing becomes quick and shallow, you may feel sick or at least definitely uncomfortable, you experience confusion and eventually slurred speech. When things get really bad you stop shivering and you have virtually no blood left in your extremities. Tissue starts dying and you have virtually no motor control anymore. One really neat symptom is called terminal burrowing- some primitive-brain survival technique.

Treating hypothermia is the hard part. Your primary objective is raising the core body temperature. If you suspect that hypothermia is a real possibility I wouldn't recommend using this guide or any other guide- go to a real doctor. That being said- this is how you treat it.

There are a few ways to get heat back into the body. If it's only a mild case of hypothermia you can rely on the body's natural heat generation to get back to normal. Remove any wet or exceptionally cold clothes. They should be dressed in warm, dry and well insulated clothes to increase the amount of heat being retained. It's also helpful if you can move them to a warm environment to make maintaining body temperature easier.

For a serious case you can add heat sources like hot water bottles or hot air in direct contact with the body. Heat should be applied to areas with a lot of blood flow- places like the neck, armpits and groin. A good place for their hands is actually in a warm person's armpits- just do it you baby. A hot shower is not advisable because chances are the person suffering from hypothermia won't be able to feel how hot the water is- increasing the chance of burning the already damaged tissue.

For something that is totally beyond home remedies you need to actually introduce warm fluids to the body intravenously- do not try at home.

The best thing you can do is just not get hypothermia. Don't worry about the other kids making fun of you for wearing a big coat with a hat and mittens- your mom is always right. Someone from Sweden once told me that there is no such thing as bad weather- just bad clothes. I don't agree 100% but I get what he was saying.

*Goosebumps - "...form, raising body hair on end in an attempt to create an insulating layer of air around the body (which is of limited use in humans due to lack of sufficient hair, but useful in other species)."- wiki - cool huh?

Sources: wiki, about