Hypothermia, Up Close and Personal

In the event that you doubt the need to carry fire-making tools, let me recount a sad story.

We got a call a few weeks ago to find a missing person. A woman with alzheimer's wandered out of her home at about 14:00 +/- 15 minutes. Our call came in at 14:40.

It was 35 degrees, sunny and with a slight breeze. She was wearing a light sweater, no coat. She had wandered off before, trying to "get home" and had been found as far as 3 miles from the house on previous occasions. Although her body was relatively healthy, her mind was shot.

We formed several search teams, Water North, Land North, Water South, Land South and Land West, coordinated by an SAR captain from the police department. I was on Water South, doing a shoreline search on the Delaware River from a boat.

Land North located her body at about 16:30, lying face-down in some shallow water at the bottom of a drained canal.

The coroner said she had been dead about 2 hours, and the cause of death was NOT drowning - it was hypothermia - she apparently died on the side of the canal and her body rolled into the canal basis.

While in her mental state, she could not have made a fire, it does point out the urgency of warmth in an outdoor exposure situation. The best guesses were that she made it about an hour before her body began to shut down, possibly less.

This sad tale reminds me to keep fire-makin's with me - always - because strange stuff happens out there.

Well just remember to make a fire when your hands still can. Colder you get the harder it is to operate any type of devices.

If she had wandered off before, why wasn't she fitted with a transmitter that sounds off an in house alarm?

Bountyhunter

To join in on what Matt and Martin are saying:.. Hypothermia and MY mental state almost killed me on a back country hunt in Idaho. I was alone on a deer blind, having been left there by my guide (who I now call "lost Louie".. because he was always lost). The guide instructed me to just wait for him to come back for me (with the horses) for the ride back to camp.
The temperature dropped from +35F to about -25F in the space of an hour, and it started snowing. I had only a vague idea of where camp was (my bad!) and (the almost fatal Mental State Issue) I didn't want to look like a timid greenhorn by forting up and starting a fire. After all, I was properly clothed.
By the time I realized how cold I was... and that it wasn't going to get any warmer any time soon.. my hands were shaking too much to light a fire. I was saved by two Snickers candy bars, which I ate.. ran around in circles until I (briefly) warmed up enough to use my hands, then started the fire.
I later learned that Louis was watching me from another ridge. Wondering why I didn't start a fire like he had. Wondering why I was dancing around.

I've concluded that, for me, not wanting to look timid or overly cautious to others is a potentially fatal Mental Flaw which can lead me to endure what I should correct. So now I let my outdoors buddies know that I'm the designated Coward! They can be the cowboy adventurers. I'll hunker down, get warm, and stay sheltered.

At least you learned something from your experience. Many people don't.

Sue

Real cowboys ALWAYS do everything possible to improve outdoor comfort and safety. They would probably also send a warning shot in "Lost Louis" general direction <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

Two words: Fleece hat

We're not in a position to ask that question, which had crossed my mind as well. This was a very, very preventable death.