Hot n' cold

I turned to my friend and told him that I needed to get undressed and dry before I started to shiver and get into trouble. It was about 15 degrees at the time.

He looked at me and said "Are you nuts, you want to get undressed to get warm?"

That's exactly what I meant and that is exactly what I did. I stripped down to my skin (not a pretty picture) taking off all of the layers of clothing that were wet or damp, immediately put my warm and dry jacket back on and hung the moist clothing over bushes to dry out.  Since all of my garments are made with synthetic fibers, the drying process only took a few minutes and I then re-dressed and was fine.

I risked being "fine" had I not dried out and allowed my body to cool down as a result of the moisture in my clothing evaporating creating a condition known as hypothermia. 

Back at our hunting camp, my actions were the topic of conversation. We were discussing being too hot or too cold when one of our companions said "I'd rather be too cold than too hot,

I can't take the heat." I looked at him and said "If you can say that, then you have never been cold. Cold hurts!"

But it doesn't really matter, both can kill you!

Hypothermia is when your body cools to below 95 degrees. 

Hyperthermia is when your body heats up above 104 degrees.

As you can see, either are only a few degrees above or below our normal 98.6 degree body temperature. It doesn't take much and you can be in serious trouble with the worst case being death caused by either condition.

During the final stages of both conditions, the victim will become disoriented and begin to stagger about as if intoxicated. With hypothermia (from being too cold), the victim experiences hot flashes and in many instances, will begin to remove articles of clothing trying to cool off all the way to being naked while just the opposite is needed.  With hyperthermia (from being too hot), during the final stages, the victim will become chilled and want to wrap themselves in whatever is available to get warm, again just the opposite of the desired action.

When in an actual situation, if you are dealing with a victim of hypothermia, the first action should be to remove all wet and icing clothing and then to "get a body on them," meaning to wrap the victim with other people to allow their body temperature to act as a warming device particularly the trunk of their body, the area between hips and neck. Then proceed to build a fire and get the victim into warm dry clothing. Of course the utmost action would be to get them indoors if shelter is available. With a person dealing with hyperthermia, the first thing to do would be to cool the person down. Pour water over the body particularly their head.

In either case, get the victim to a medical facility as quickly as possible.

Remember that too many clothes in winter can be just as dangerous as too few. Sweat is water and water acts as a cooling agent and can start the process of hypothermia even when you are wrapped tight in that brand-new down jacket and insulated pants. If you feel wet, stop what you are doing and open up your clothing to allow air in and dry out.  Dress in layers so you can remove or add clothing as needed to maintain a constant level of comfort.

Also remember that hypothermia can occur even in hot weather. If your clothing becomes wet with sweat while active and you stop what you are doing and stand around in a cooling breeze, your body temperature can drop rapidly to dangerous levels.

As in all times of dealing with life-threatening situations, the first thing you need to do is "think." Don't panic. Recognize your situation, admit you have a situation that needs to be dealt with and act accordingly. Panic will kill you.

Just be smart and be safe. See you outdoors!

You can reach Dick at rtotino@nycap.rr.com.