Call immediately if you suspect that you or someone you know has hypothermia. The goal of hypothermia treatment is to increase your body temperature to a normal range. While waiting for emergency care, the affected person or their caregiver can take a few steps to remedy the situation:. Handle the affected person with care. Any forceful or excessive movements may cause cardiac arrest.
Move or shield them from the cold. If necessary, cut them off to avoid moving the individual. Cover them with warm blankets, including their face, but not their mouth. Apply warm not hot , dry compresses to the individual, such as a warmed water bottle or a warmed towel. Only apply the compresses to the chest, neck, or groin.
Applying a compress to these areas will push cold blood back toward the heart, lungs, and brain, which could be fatal. Temperatures that are too hot can burn the skin or cause cardiac arrest. Severe hypothermia is medically treated with warm fluids, often saline, injected into the veins.
A doctor will rewarm the blood, a procedure in which they draw blood, warm it, and then put it back into the body. Airway rewarming can also be done through masks and nasal tubes. Warming the stomach through a cavity lavage, or stomach pump, in which a warm saltwater solution pumps into the stomach, can also help. Immediate medical attention is crucial for preventing complications. The longer you wait, the more complications will arise from hypothermia. The complications include:. The simplest steps you can take involve the clothing you wear.
A convection oven cooks faster and more evenly by moving air across the roasting turkey. Cold winds work the same way in reverse. Cold air blowing across the body removes heat faster. Wind chill isn't just a trick of the body feeling as if the air is colder; it actually accelerates loss of heat from the body and hastens hypothermia.
The environment isn't always about the weather. Patients in surgical situations can develop hypothermia for two reasons. First, they're naked. Typically, surgical patients don't have much more than a blanket or two to keep them warm in a room often kept cooler than the average home.
Second, their guts are exposed. Skin works as a permeable insulation to keep heat in the body. When the skin is cut open and the outside air is cooler than body temperature, the internal organs are exposed to outside air and the body is cooled very quickly. Therapeutic Hypothermia.
Not all causes of hypothermia are bad. Therapeutic hypothermia is a medical treatment modality intended to slow down metabolism in order to let healing catch up. Therapeutic hypothermia is mostly used after cardiac arrest resuscitation. Body fat, specifically brown fat, acts as both insulation and heat generator.
Certain native populations have evolved adaptations to cold weather, such as metabolic adaptations of Native Americans that lead to higher metabolic rates and a higher core body temperature. Patients with metabolic disorders like diabetes are more prone to hypothermia than other populations. If you know that you are at higher risk because of these circumstances, be mindful of common hypothermia causes so that you can take preventive measures.
The use of alcohol is one of the biggest risk factors that can cause hypothermia. Alcohol is a vasodilator, meaning that it opens up peripheral blood vessels and allows blood to flow freely to the surface of the skin.
That blood flow puts patients with alcohol in their bloodstream at risk for hypothermia while at the same time feeling as if they are nice and warm.
Alcohol makes you feel as if you are warm by moving all that nice, warm blood closer to the temperature receptors located in the skin. Alcohol has such a reputation for warming you up that it is often touted as an elixir against the cold.
Hot Toddy's are sold at nearly every ski lodge, luckily right next to the fireplace. Unfortunately, blood so close to the surface allows more heat to escape the bloodstream and, ultimately, the body. Even though a drink or two may make you feel warm in the moment, you are now much more susceptible to hypothermia.
Medical experts typically recognize three stages of hyporthermia, based on core body temperature and symptoms:. Some also regard core body temperatures under 68 degrees or 75 degrees as profound hypothermia. When core body temperature drops below normal, a person will start shivering, become extremely tired and drowsy, and show signs of mental impairment, such as slurred speech, fumbling hands, confusion, and memory loss.
Medications that can increase the risk of hypothermia include:. Start by taking their temperature. Body temperature that is too low affects the brain, making the victim unable to think clearly or move well. Victims of hypothermia are often: Older adults with inadequate food, clothing, or heating Babies sleeping in cold bedrooms People who remain outdoors for long periods—the homeless, hikers, hunters, etc. People who drink alcohol or use illicit drugs.
What are the signs and symptoms of hypothermia? The following are warnings signs of hypothermia: Adults: Shivering Exhaustion or feeling very tired Confusion Fumbling hands Memory loss Slurred speech Drowsiness Babies: bright red, cold skin very low energy.
If you are not able to get medical help right away, try to warm the person up. Get the person into a warm room or shelter. Remove any wet clothing the person is wearing.
You can also use skin-to-skin contact under loose, dry layers of blankets, clothing, towels, or sheets. Warm drinks can help increase body temperature, but do not give alcoholic drinks. Do not try to give beverages to an unconscious person.
After body temperature has increased, keep the person dry and wrap their body, including their head and neck, in a warm blanket. Get the person proper medical attention as soon as possible. Perform CPR, even if the person appears dead. CPR should continue until the person responds or medical aid becomes available.
Keep warming the person while performing CPR. Keep extra items in your car when traveling. This includes clothes, food, water, and blankets. If you get stranded in your car, call or signal for help right away.
Stay in your car. Run the car heater for 10 minutes per hour to conserve gas. This can cause carbon monoxide poisoning. Do not eat snow or drink alcohol. This lowers your body temperatures. In cold temperatures, stay active to produce body heat and store energy. This retains heat and saves money. Care for babies. Check in on elderly people. Make sure they are warm, dry, clothed, and fed. Hypothermia treatment See a doctor immediately if you suspect you or someone else has hypothermia.
Additionally: Move the person into a warm place as soon as possible. Give the person warm clothing. If their current clothes are wet, remove them. Cover the person with blankets or towels. Use an electric blanket or heating pad, if possible. Make sure they do not get too hot, though. Skin-to-skin contact with another person helps increase body temperature. Have the person drink warm liquids. Water, tea, or coffee are best. Do not drink alcohol.
Do not give drinks to someone who is unconscious. If the person is not breathing, begin CPR right away. Stay with the person until help arrives. Living with hypothermia Hypothermia can be cured with little to no lasting effects.
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