How to Avoid Hypothermia

        You also prevent hypothermia by being aware of its symptoms and recognizing it before it gets worse. Hypothermia happens in three stages, each successively worse than the one before. The first stage includes mild shivering, numb hands, quick and shallow breathing, nausea, and increased fatigue. Sometimes, the victim will feel warming sensation as if they were warming back up, but they are actually beginning the next stage. The second stage includes more violent shivering, muscles mis coordination, movements become slowed and take more effort, pale or blue skin, and mild confusion. In the third stage, muscle coordination and walking is nearly impossible, skin puffs up and turns blue, metabolic processes are shut down, major organs fail, and if untreated long enough, clinical death occurs. Being aware of the symptoms at each stage of hypothermia can play a very important role in prevention.

        Treatment of possible hypothermia victims can be lifesaving. If you recognize hypothermia symptoms in somebody, act immediately. As soon as the first signs of hypothermia surface you should begin to leave the cold and seek medical attention. When this is not an option, there are certain actions that can be taken to treat it. First, carefully move the victim to warm shelter, being extra careful when moving unconscious victims as they are more fragile. Remove any wet clothes the victim has on and replace them with dry clothes. Walking and exercise will help the body produce heat and help being to warm the body back up. If the victim is unable to walk, you can put the victim in a sleeping bag to increase the warming or insulate the victim with anything possible. If possible, give the victim a warm but not hot drink.

        Understanding how to avoid hypothermia is extremely important as it can be lifesaving knowledge. Hypothermia is responsible for hundreds of deaths and thousands of hospitalizations every year. You never know the situation you may find yourself in, which is why it is so necessary to know how to prevent, recognize, and treat hypothermia before entering any type of cold conditions.