Hypothermia

With all of the attention that is focused on the threat of snow, sleet or freezing rain when a winter storm threatens Mississippi. In many storms the most dangerous part is not the wintry precipitation, but rather it is the cold temperatures. Hypothermia is a dangerous lowering of the body's temperature and it can happen to anyone.

Obviously, the way to prevent hypothermia is to stay warm, which sounds easy enough. But if you are caught in a Winter Storm, keeping warm may be difficult or even impossible. A very predictable sequence of events occur as the temperature of the body's core lowers. Including mental confusion, unconsciousness, and then death. The normal body temperature is 98.6 degrees. When your interior temperature falls to only 97 degrees your body begins shivering and you feel cold all over. By the time the temperature lowers to 93 degrees, amnesia sets in. If the temperature lowers to 86, many of the body functions begin to shut down and a state of unconsciousness begins. Death is assured once the temperature of the body falls below 80 degrees.

Who is most suseptible to HYPOTHERMIA? This can be broken down into two groups. With the first being people who participate in outdoor activities. Hypothermia kills more people involved in outdoor recreation than anything else. Hypothermia occurs more often with temperatures in the 30s and 40s than at bitterly cold levels, because less people are outdoors during extreme cold periods. And those who do venture out are usually much better prepared for the cold. A cold rain or wet snow makes hypothermia even more likely since it acts to take heat away from the body more quickly than cold, dry air.

The second group most suspectible to hypothpermia are those in homes or buildings without heating. Bitter cold can lower temperatures enough in unheated structures to cause hypothermia. In normally warm states like Mississippi where cooling, not heating, usually has priority. People living in homes without heat or with unreliable heating systems are particularly vulnerable to hypothermia. Most hypothermia deaths in Mississippi occur under these conditions. It should be kept in mind that the elderly and people with chronic health conditions are particularly vulnerable to hypothermia. Be sure to check frequently on such people during cold snaps.

The symptoms for hypothermia include
• Uncontrolled Shivering
• Memory Lapses
• Drowsiness
• Disorientation
• Incoherence
• Slurred Speech
• Apparent Exhaustion.

If a person appears to have hypothermia
• Change them into warm clothes.
• Wrap them into blankets.
• The trunk of the body should be warmed first to ensure the body core temperature does not continue to fall.
• Do not warm extremities (arms and legs) first. This drives the cold blood toward the heart and can lead to a heart attack.
• Drinks should be administered to raise the body's temperature gradually.
• If the symptoms are extreme...a doctor should be called immediately.