Was up late recently and saw a show titled Extreme Survival. It was about extreme cold. I forget who the person was but I found it VERY informative. He allowed himself to be (in boxers) monitored and placed into a rrom that maintained 32 degrees farenheit. The physician then had him perform some tasks. After awhile he was able to stabilize his temperature. It didn't get down to the 95 degrees that defines hypothermia so they spryed him with water several times. THAT got his temp to drop to the 95 degrees. They had him repeat the tests he did earlier. Throughout all of it he was awake and (apparently) oriented. His physical dexterity dropped by over 50 % WELL BEFORE he dropped to 95 degrees. His mental ability dropped by (their words) 100%. All he had to do was look through lines of letters and mark down how many times a particular letter showed up in that line. Through all of it, he thought he was fine. He couldn't even perform simple tasks. Using a lighter (even if it worked at that temp)...I don't think so.

It really opened my eyes. I've been in some cold situations..and I mean COLD. Think SCUBA in water of about 30 degrees with a wetsuit. As a medic, one of the things I've been trained to diagnose and treat hypothermia. I was stunned that THAT much physical and mental degredation could happen so quickly.

Yes, I think I have seen that one as well...and it reinforces the mantra of taking action 'before' you feel cold. Hypothermia is our biggest killer here in New Zealand...yet a lot of people underestimate its risk, most people believe that they can take remedial steps once they are cold and lets face it, they often do and get away with it, but if you risk enough times...it will get you.

I have also been amazed at how debilatating the cold can be, the thing that makes me think, is during the cooling process is how the body shuts down its extremities to protect the core (internal organs and brain) which means that the very tools, one would need to remedy the situation i.e. hands etc have just been disabled. this would be then worsed by the fact that you are still ok in the brain but powerless to stop the demise. If you are slurring and making mental mistakes...then your brain is cooled...and death is not far away.

Speaking of that, there was another article about hypothermia induced death...that blew me away. It was about a female doctor skiing in Norway who fell through some ice and effectively drowned, but also got super-cooled by the rushing water underneath. The interesting facts that while she effectively died - the did resusitate her from a very cold core temp of around 13 degrees C until she was back to normal of 36.6...(from your medic knowledge - not dead until warm and dead paid dividends) as she was alive. To cut this thread short, it took her a year to recover, and has no brain damage or anything like that. The reason that it took a year was that the cold killed all her nerves so it took a year for them to grow back so she could move again...hard core!

Whoa.....that is wild. But I've seen it too. Not dead till warm and dead.....that's why folks.

Many people think that only temps 32°F/0°C and below cause hypothermia, a dangerous fallacy.

It doesn't take extreme cold to kill you. I was reading somewhere that most deaths by hypothermia take place in the 32°F/0°C to 50°F/10°C range. People dress for for t-shirt weather or warmer, get into a bad situation, have no jacket (etc), don't know how to keep warm, don't know or don't have the equipment to make fire, and they die.

Sue

Tell me about it....I work as a medic here in SW Florida. I've had more than a handful of people in hypothermia. And we're in the sub tropics. Like you said....people think they'll be ok and end up in a bad situation. I've had several people who slipped and fell late at night and they were in bed clothes. They landed on the patio floor...funny they only thought they'd be out for a second as they left a glass on the table and were just going to bring it in. By morning....hypothermic.

good point Sue, on the temp zone thing. Since we operate around the 37 degree C (sorry people don't do farenheit...did I spell right) any temperature below that becomes effectively a heat sink for our precious life force, the difference between a 0 degree day and above is purely a calculation of time.

the other thing where people put perhaps a tad too much faith in is 'just' having the right clothing, don't get me wrong - you need to good gear to slow down the loss of heat but people forget that it's their body that puts out the heat. Once a person become tired and thus exhausted, all the high tech clothing won't save them. Only another external heat source eg shelter and warmth.

We see more people pushing themselves to do quick alpine or above bushline crossings (complete with all the gear) but miscalculate on their physical ability.

Did anyone see the British S.A.S "hunting Chris Ryan" episodes? Chris Ryan is one tough guy to say the least....and well trained...yet during one of the episodes...even this guys made a tactical mistake and had to be rescued due to him suffering hypothermia and was on the way out!

Even tough guys die from the cold

Interesting point. I also find it interesting that we can condition our bodies to defend against hypothermia as well. It isn't very effective, but it could mean that extra minute or two before you completely lose it. I would assume that in extreme exposure, it is going to be insignificant.

Maybe this is called acclimation? It seems to hold some truth for hyperthermia as well. Given time, our bodies can adapt somewhat to the general environment. I find that having been in Iraq for so long now, I do not need to sweat as hard during hundred degree days, and consequently freeze back home when it is 70 degrees (farenheit, I don't do celsius, hope I spelled that right).

I tell you what, it has to be a pretty blustery day for me to keep my overshirt on when working on the woodpile for any length of time. Once I get in my groove, about all I can stand is a tee shirt, even if it starts snowing out. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

That description describes some people I know ..... In the middle of the day <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> ... any day

Seriously I am not surprised even though I didnt see the program. I have seen another show do something similar.

When I was a kid we lived in a place that used to get cold every night, not freezing but close. We didn't have much heating, and I was able to teach myself not to shiver.
I used to be able to put myself into a very relaxed state, and push past the goose bumps and shivering by lowering my body temp. Then I was able to get a good sleep. If I went to sleep while shivering I felt like I needed more sleep.
These days I have lost that ability.
I guess that was similar to stabilizing his temp on the porgram.

...That's why I always pack a jacket in my bag. Most hypothermia happens not at ten below, but rather in the warmer temps when people aren't prepared --20-50 degrees is what I seem to remember.

Teacher RO

Here are few excellent sites for the prevention, recognition and treatment of hypothermia:

Hypothermia

Hypothermia Treatment Equipment

Wilderness Emergency Medical Services Institute

Pete