Hypothermia

Hypothermia is an extremely debilitating condition brought on by a loss of body temperature to below 95 and the bodies inability to produce heat faster than it is losing it. You may feel yourself progressing from some slight shivering which can progress to the point where it is uncontrollable. However, the onset of hypothermia can be  gradual process and so the effects can creep up on you without noticing any dramatic decrease in your bodies functioning. Hypothermia can cause us to feel sleepyand feel confused. It can also affect our co-ordination and make us become somewhat clumsy and unable to carry out relatively simple tasks. This will drastically affect our chances of survival as if the bodies internal temperature decreases below 25 death is the most likely outcome and the onset of hypothermia will in turn make us less able to care for ourselves and remedy the problem.

If you think you my be suffering from hypothermia then take measures such as these; get yourself out of the wind as this can sap any heat from your body at an incredibly fast rate. Also if you are wearing any wet clothes take them off and change into dry ones if at all possible. Don’t look to apply heat to your arms and legs when you are initially starting to warm yourself up. This can cause your internal body temperature to drop further as it may cause cold blood to return to the vital organs and brain which can have fatal consequences. Also when you apply heat to your body look to focus on the torso and apply heat indirectly through the form of a heating pad or lamp. Lastly, don’t be tempted to drink any alcoholic beverages as this will cause the blood to rise to the surface of your skin and radiate heat away from you.