Re: Bob and Don's Hypothermia
Lisa Varner (lvarner@FREENET.COLUMBUS.OH.US)
Sun, 31 Mar 1996 08:17:50 -0500
Thank you both for taking the time to respond with such a clear and
descriptive e-mail.
Bob Amuck wrote...
> It is seldom advantageous just to get in a "warm bed" because the body
> needs to generate the heat needed to maintain warmth, and the insulation
> afforded by a bed does not really contribute much when heat is not being
> adequately generated by the body.
This makes alot of sense, just wish I'd known all those hours I was in bed!
I will heed this advice if this should ever come to pass again.
> We used the warm gatorade* technique at the last National Scout Jamboree
> where I worked in a Subcamp Medical Center. Many Scouts had gotten wet and
> chilled during the rainstorm, and seemed to "pop right back" after taking
> in warm gatorade.
This too is interesting. What exactly is in Gatorade? Is there any other
drink anyone knows of that works likewise?
> (Of course a good night's sleep in a warm sleeping bag
> and a healthy dinner didn't do any harm for the "two-legged incinerators"
> either!)
Food source seems to be a reoccuring theme and play a great role in this.
> This works especially well before going to bed. If you give Scouts a
> "cheese and crackers" snack before going to bed, the slow digestion of
> the cheese seems to release energy uniformly throughout the night. A
> healthy dinner of carbohydrate foods such as pasta are also beneficial
> before going to bed.
So that's why the troop thrives on pie iron pizzas!
> (**Caution: chest pain can also be associated with heart attack, so if
> a crushing pain is present and/or other symptoms such as
> shortness of breath, pain radiating into the arms or neck are present,
> immediate evaluation by a physician and/or paramedics is essential!)
Although there was no chest pain for me. This is a very good warning as
many people wait too long to have chest pains checked out.
Don Robinson said...
> I have never seen anything in the literature for wilderness medicine that
> suggests an increased susceptiblity to hypothermia in someone who has
> experienced it before.
I had not seen anything either way so I appreciate your comments.
> if someone seemed to be very susceptible to cold temperatures, 3 things
> would come to my mind:
Just to kill curiosity, I don't think these 3 things apply to me because
1) I am not normally suseptible to cold, in fact I thrive in the cold and
2) I was not the only leader who had felt these effects after the first
exposure.
I do appreciate your pointing out the other possibilities as one day these
may be an issue for me.
> Bob Amick presents an excellent overview of this problem and its
> prevention in his reply to your post, Lisa.
I agree, thanks to Bob and Don for exellent descriptions of possibilities.
> Hope this helps some.
Yes, helped a great deal.
YiS,
Lisa Varner << lvarner@freenet.columbus.oh.us >>
Haven't been there. Don't want to go. Don't need another t-shirt!
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