What is hypothermia?

Normally, the average body temperature of a healthy adult is around 37 degrees Celsius. Hypothermia occurs when the body's heat loss is greater than the amount of body heat generated, the body's ability to control body temperature be confused.

Mild hypothermia will occur when the body temperature drops to 35 degrees Celsius. When the body temperature falls to 32.2 degrees Celsius, the temperature compensation mechanism begins to decline, the mental state may change and You may even lose your memory.

Body temperature at 27.7 degrees Celsius, you begin to lose consciousness and when it is just below 21 degrees Celsius, the state of severe hypothermia takes place and people will die. When body parts suffer long-term cold, blood circulation decreases and warm anemia results in frozen and broken muscles.

The risk of hypothermia is increased if accompanied by exhaustion or dehydration.

Sudden hypothermia often occurs when the weather changes season, particularly on cold, cold winter days . The cause of hypothermia is usually due to:

• Exposure to cold, cold weather when it rains;
• Wearing wet clothes, not warm enough;
• Leave your head bare when the temperature is low;
• Bath in a place with no airflow;
• Fall or soak in cold water for a long time;
• Indoor activities have temperatures below 10 degrees Celsius.

The risk of hypothermia is increased if accompanied by exhaustion or dehydration. Subjects prone to hypothermia include:

• Elderly sedentary, poor circulation, reduced adaptation to cold weather;
• Children and premature babies, especially those under 5 years old, have a thermodynamic mechanism that is not fully developed;
• People who are sick, emaciated, malnourished;
• Diseases such as mental illness, Alzheimer's, cardiovascular, hypothyroidism .;
• Drunk or drug addicted person;
• Homeless people;
• Victims drowned or were trapped for a long time in cold weather.

How to handle emergency when meeting with hypothermia

• Call an ambulance . While waiting for help, monitor the patient's breath. If the breathing stops or appears to be very slow or shallow, take a breath immediately.
• Move patient to warm place . If indoors cannot be entered, shield the person from wind damage, cover the patient's head, and place the patient away from cold soil.
• Remove wet clothes, dry, warm dressing. Apply a warm compress to the patient's neck, chest and groin. Give the patient warm water, hot porridge water .

Things not to do: Do not apply heat directly. Do not use hot water, heating pads, or heating lamps to warm the victim. Do not try to warm hands and feet, because heating the arms and legs promotes cold blood returning to the heart, lungs and brain, causing central hypothermia, which can be fatal. Do not give sick people alcohol. Do not massage or rub the sick person. The movements with the patient need to be gentle to avoid the risk of cardiac arrest.

If the patient has a body temperature above 33 ^o C, then just use the usual warm methods such as wearing warm clothes, drinking warm water, warm compresses are enough.

Need to quickly transfer to the hospital for treatment of cases: body temperature from 28 - 33 ^o C: specify the method of incubation based on body temperature, age, duration of cold infection. Below 28 ^° C: must be treated with external circulation, renal replacement or peritoneal dialysis.

Simultaneously with measures to increase body temperature, it is necessary to find the cause and treat the cause in combination with symptomatic treatment to minimize the adverse events.

• Paradoxically, the victim took off his clothes when he was about to freeze to death
• The reaction of the human body in freezing temperatures