(Now there’s a catchy song lyric!)
We often think the prime conditions for hypothermia are as cold and wet as possible. And though it’s true that if you jumped into freezing cold water, you’d get cold 25 times faster than in air at that same temperature, we see most cases of hypothermia at temperatures above 0°C, especially when it is also wet and windy. Add weary people to that combination and you’ve got a potentially deadly situation.
That being said, research into cold physiology is proving the adage: “You’re not dead until you’re warm and dead.”
So in honour of hypothermia temperatures outside, here’s an excellent article on the science of getting really cold and surviving it. Those of you who’ve taken courses with us will recognize “Professor Popsicle” Dr Gordon Giesbrecht who had this to say in the article “We’ve learned that there really is no temperature so low that you shouldn’t try to save someone…” from Rene Ebersole’s article “How the New Science of Freezing Can Save Your Life” in outsideonline.com, Jan 12, 2016
And if you have a little more time to learn about what cold does to your body, Peter Stark’s book “Last Breath: The Limits of Adventure” is highly recommended. It’s readily available to purchase online, and for a taste, visit his site here where you can have a read through chapter one “As Freezing Persons Recollect the Snow. Hypothermia.
Enjoy the learning! Let’s all learn lessons about hyperthermia like this, not by personal experience. Happy Winter!