Thanks for your reply Pete, I hear what you’re saying and as a paramedic you are far more qualified than I am.

The reasons I say don't give chest compressions is because the protocols say if someone is not breathing properly start CPR. With hypothermia a person will not be breathing properly, they may be taking only one or two breaths a minute.

The chance is that a hypothermic person with a slow breathing rate the heart rate will have significantly slowed and not detectable for the average first aider. Hypothermia is not enough to send a heart into Vfib so there is a high chance the heart will be functioning normally other than very slowly. In a hypothermic state it is far better for heart to work slowly than go into Vfib.

As a paramedic you are far better placed to monitor what the heart is doing with help to a 12 lead ECG but for the average person we can only look at breathing as a clue to whether to start CPR. Checking for pulse is not part of the protocols anymore and even if it is someone in deep hypothermia, it is very doubtful if you would feel such a slow weak pulse.

I have given CPR on more than one occasion and I know how emotionally and psychically tiring it is. One would hope you’re in a group and other in your group are in a position to take over the cpr. Whilst in Kenya I and 2 other team mates gave CPR to a 3rd team mate for over 12 hours waiting for a helo to come and carry out a casvac. Once started if you have the resources to continue CPR until the casualty is out of your care.

The information I posted is based on the UK and European First Aid Protocols but I believe they are practically the same as yours in the States.