Hypothermia
By Ryan Ouellette
What is Hypothermia?
Body Systems Affected
How They Work
Normally:
Supply’s the right amount of O2 to our cells (CS)
Respiratory System controls your breathing and helps with speech formation
Nervous System controls your reflexes, and reflexes are reactions to threats to your survival, so you need those
With Hypothermia:
Loss of circulation in the hypothermic parts of your body (CS)
Slurring of speech, slow shallow breathing (RS)
Shivering as an attempt to warm up the body (NS)
Target Population
Anyone can get Hypothermia. It’s not specific to a certain ethnicity. But cold temperatures are usually found only in the Northern Hemisphere.
Onset
You get Hypothermia by staying out in cold weather too long or by being in frigid waters in the winter. Elderly people usually get it by being exposed to cold temperatures indoors that younger people are immune to. You get Hypothermia when your body temp. passes below 95F (35C).
Diagnosis
Hypothermia can only be diagnosed with a rectal thermometer. Rectal thermometers are special thermometers that measure how cold your temperature is. Just like thermometers measure how hot your temperature is.
Signs and Symptoms
Mild Hypothermia:
Shivering
Dizziness
Nausea
Faster Breathing
Lack of coordination
Fatigue
Faster heart rate
Moderate-Severe:
Shivering but stops as Hypothermia worsens
Clumsiness
Mumbling/slurring of speech
Drowsiness
Weak pulse
Treatment
Bring the patient inside ASAP and remove all wet clothing and cover patient in multiple blankets. Any jarring movements can trigger “dangerous irregular heartbeats.”
Prognosis
If it goes untreated, Hypothermia will eventually lead to heart and respiratory failure. That means death.