Hypothermia

Hypothermia

When someone has hypothermia most people don’t know what the symptoms are and how to prevent it. Sometimes the symptoms can be pretty noticeable but if its your first time out in the bush or even out in the snow watch your party for signs.

When your cold, have no energy or even have an injury, it is hard to stop hypothermia. So before you go out into the coldness of the forest remember that the causes of hypothermia are mostly when you are cold, wet and there is a lot of wind. If you have all of these things you could end up with severe hypothermia and sometimes you might even die.

To notice that someone in your party has hypothermia check for signs like if they were to be severely shivering you should know that their temperature has dropped down to 35 degrees, then at 33 degrees they would have something called severe hypothermia, next at 32 degrees the shivering stops which is a horrible sign, at 28 degrees their heart will start to beat irregularly, finally at 20 degrees the heart will stop and they will definitely die. The hardest sign is when they stop shivering, it could be they are warming up or getting even colder. Usually when they stop after 30 minutes of shivering it means they will soon stop breathing and could die.

People think that to cure someone with hypothermia is to warm them up but you have to follow a few rules. Find shelter first then take off any damp clothing, unpack the sleeping bag and put them inside, wait a while and if they are still shivering fill the sleeping bag with bottles of hot water. They should slowly be warming up but make sure they don’t warm up to fast or it could cause heat rashes or something worse. When trying to treat them though make sure to  never give them alcohol, rub their chest, or take any of their warm gear off because hypothermia can last up to 2 whole days.   

To prevent hypothermia you need to wear gloves and a beanie, woollen clothes that trap heat, a waterproof jacket and definitely try to avoid cotton. You would need to wear this out hiking because hypothermia is mainly caused by environmental factors.

There is different types of hypothermia such as:

Feeling cold-numbness in arms and legs.

Mild hypothermia- shivering, clumsy, irrational, confused, may appear drunk, denies problems, and slurred speech.

Moderate hypothermia- muscle stiffness.

Severe hypothermia- shivering stops, collapses, semi conscious, starts removing clothes.

Critical hypothermia- unconscious, no response to pain, slow pulse breathing, grey, blue, or pink coloured skin.

Cardiac hypothermia- no pulse, stopped breathing, pupils have enlarged, possibly dead. These all sound horrible and they are, the only way to handle someone with severe hypothermia is to get that person on a helicopter gently and make sure its not too hot so they don’t warm up too fast. Also if it’s only mild hypo you can cure it with a simple hot chocolate and a nice warm bath.

Another way to prevent hypothermia is to eat the right food. The best food to eat is nourishing food such as, cheese, bread, peanut butter, and muesli bars. Before that you should've eaten a good healthy breakfast and sometimes when you on the move try eating something like chocolate or snack bars with lots of energy inside. As for drinks, a thermos of hot water will be fine and should last you awhile.   

Last of all, plan your trip. By planning your trip you'll need to check the weather, and make sure you know how many people are in your party incase someone does get hypothermia. If you have already left, make sure you allow breaks to get your energy back but to also put more clothing on.