Gourt > Health > Conditions and Diseases > Wounds and Injuries > Hypothermia
Hypothermia is a medical condition in which the victim's core body temperature has dropped to significantly below normal and normal metabolism begins to be impaired. This begins to occur when the core temperature drops below 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit). If body temperature falls below 32 °C (90 °F), the condition can become critical and eventually fatal. Body temperatures below 27 °C (80 °F) are almost uniformly fatal, though body temperatures as low as 14 °C (57.5 °F) have been known to be survivable. The opposite condition, where temperature is too high, is hyperthermia.
For unknown reasons, people who fall critically unconscious in very cold water can, in rare cases, be resuscitated, even though they would be expected to have died of drowning and/or hypothermia. See Mammalian diving reflex.
Types
There are three types of hypothermia, acute, subacute, and chronic.
- Acute hypothermia is the most dangerous; the body temperature drops very swiftly, often in a matter of minutes, such as when a victim falls through an ice-covered lake.
- Subacute hypothermia occurs on a scale of hours, most commonly by remaining in a cold environment for an extended period of time.
- Chronic hypothermia is typically caused by an underlying disease.
Heat Related :: Wounds and Injuries
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SARBC Hypothermia Page - Information about Hypothermia, what it is, how it affects you and its treatment. By the Search and Rescue Society of British Columbia.
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