Your body has 4 times as many cold receptors as it has heat receptors. We have very efficient cooling system but not really the greatest heating system. Increasing circulation when we are cold only cools down body further. Victims you described wrapped in blankets, survival suits, etc most likely experienced some kind of shock. Shock can be due to a number of different mechanisms including not enough blood volume (hypovolemic shock), not enough output of blood by the heart (cardiogenic shock) and of course due to fatigue, death/life situation and exposure.

The signs and symptoms of shock include low blood pressure (hypotension), overbreathing (hyperventilation), a weak rapid pulse, cold clammy grayish-bluish (cyanotic) skin, decreased urine flow (oliguria), and mental changes (a sense of great anxiety and foreboding, confusion and, sometimes, combativeness).

Now in order to treat the above is keeping the victim warm. Preferably IV with warm fluid can be given but if not warm blankets can be used.

Also I was explained that victims who were lost, wondering around they want to have their own space. Giving them a blanket or a bag creates their own space, sort of like a buffer between them and outside conditions that caused them harm.

Is there a danger to overdue it? With typical conscious patient not really. They will strip down or throw the coverings away. If you are performing active rewarming and place a heat pack directly on someone’s body than yes you can cause burns. You have to monitor any unconscious victim assess their breathing and core temperature. But as long as you are just using blankets and they have fresh supply of air available there is not much you can do wrong.


Matt