Oh boy. I'll vote for confusion and that I believe the poor guy didn't stop to think what he was doing.

Instead of adventurers freezing atop Mt. Everest, which you would expect to hear about, I hear far more stories of people who, from ignorance, confusion, or not stopping to think what they're doing, create a survival situation where none should exist in the first place, and then do exactly the wrong thing and wind up dying.

That about summs up the whole thing. This is why the edge of mental preparedness if so much more important than any edge we may gain by carrying a bunch of tools, gadgets and incendiaries. When you are standing outside, cold enough to be threatened by it and in a hurry to get something - anything done about it, it is at that point more than any other, the point of crises, when we must stop, think things through, plan and think through the plan before acting. Sometimes it is good to just plain make a spot of tea. Had the gentleman in this story gone to the barn with his coat on, made a spot of tea on the wood stove there (using the matches in the coat pocket and melted snow and perhaps a feed bucket), he would have quickly realized that he had all that he needed right there in the barn. Could have made a nice warm bed of hay near the wood stove and burned the stalls for days until he cut a beam and battered down the front door of his house! Or used some harness straps or the like to pull out the cross member of the window. Or enlisted the aid of his livestock for both warmth and pulling power. The list seams endless when sitting warm with a cup of tea. Point is he could have achieved the "sitting warm with a cup of tea" posture without resolving his crises. This posture is attainable in the middle of most crises and often helps us to regain perspective and come up with solutions that save lives.

There's an old joke that the typical British response to everything is to put the kettle on... <img src="images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

another note. . . it's a dumb idea to stick your fingers into an unconcious patients mouth at any time. if they suffer a seizure or something they WILL bite your fingers off. and human bites always get infected.
a choking patient is a different story. . . if they pass out from lack of oxygen then they're probably not suffering from a head injury = low index of suspicion for seizures. this is the only time i can think of that i would stick my fingers into an unconcious patients mouth.
How could ya get the safety pin onto the tongue without reaching in there?

I would use the pliers on my Leatherman. <img src="images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

~W

I think it goes beyond comfort. We all go through a regimented mental process as we develop and assemble our kits. I beleive the pprocess itself makes us more aware of survival, both in terms of how to survive and, perhaps more importantly, how to avoid survival situations.

We constantly read survival stories about ill prepared, ignorant folks doing things to get themselves in trouble. Most of the time they're actions you and I would avoid or excercise extreme caution.

I firmly beleive the tactil process of kit assembly aids us in our ability to survive as much as having a tin full of useful and/or necessary items. Our brain is our best survival tool!

i doubt the patient is gonna like that ! just one miss cauculation and his tast bugs will be out of business for awile...