Hypothermia

For some readers, the headline of today’s blog might spark visions of Disney on Ice, complete with professional figure skaters dressed as emergency medical technicians, gliding, spinning, and soaring through the air as they provide emergency medical care in a winter wilderness setting. 

As they successfully evacuate the injured party from the ice, one skater performs a perfect triple axel in celebration. As for musical accompaniment, I’m thinking we should choreograph the entire scene to Vanilla Ice singing “Ice Ice Baby.”

I only bring this to mind because it was around this time (1990) that Vanilla Ice released his hit video recording, “Ice Ice Baby.” I climbed Mt. Shasta in Northern California’s Cascade Range that winter, and I recall the approach provided intermittent views of the frozen water that would make up the majority of the climb. I came to the realization that providing medical treatment and making potentially life-saving decisions would be much more difficult to achieve in icy conditions and bitter cold than in more temperate conditions. 

In the years since that icy climb, I have continued to enjoy ice and snow activities and have often participating in rescue operations, providing medical care in winter wilderness settings. In this post, I explore the unique challenges of providing wilderness medicine in cold, icy environments and lead you through the standard protocol for responding to injury or illness in these challenging conditions. 

And, for a little fun, I’m going to weave in a few lyrics from “Ice Ice Baby” to reinforce key lessons. So, strap on your crampons and “Let’s Kick It!” (more…)

Hypothermia is deadly. There, I said it! This potentially dangerous drop in body temperature is commonly defined as a core body temperature below 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 degrees Celsius) after dropping from a healthy temperature of about 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit or 37 degrees Celsius.

The slightest variance from the “normal” range can disrupt the body’s ideal operating conditions, known as homeostasis. The negative impact of hypothermia on homeostasis is dramatic and therefore should not be underestimated. Hypothermic progression follows a path, moving first more slowly, then more rapidly toward non-movement and when properly treated, onto death.

Movement is life. Living things grow, evolve, learn and work to improve their circumstances. Non-living things hold fast to current circumstances unless acted upon by an outside force. As we’ve all experience, movement generates warmth, and this case, it combats hypothermia. A creature that has the appropriate amounts of items necessary for movement will generally maintain a body temperature conducive for life. 

These items required for movement include nutrients, health, fitness, clothing, and sometimes technical outdoor tools such as an ice axe and crampons. A breakdown of these items leads to decreased movement and reduced temperature. In this post, we will look at the hypothermic process using the five umbles: (more…)