Hypothermia
...ands and other extremities and reduced manual dexterity. Complex skills such as skiing become more difficult, the victim may also feel tired and may argue and become incorporative.” Stark soon regrets ever leaving his warm jeep, his ankle is in excruciating pain and he decides to rest a while in the snow. Stark is tired and it is very dangerous for him to rest instead of looking for his hat and glove. Having his head uncovered alone accounts for 50 percent of heat loss. His core temperature drops to 95 degrees which is moderate hypothermia. “Violent shivering and loss of muscular coordination” (Science of Cold). The article Science of Cold also states that this is the most dangerous stage because the victim is unable to make rational decisions and may have a desire to lay down and go to sleep which Stark did. The online article says that the victim may remove clothing due to an unawareness of the cold which happens to Stark when he starts to hallucinate that he is by a fire and his clothes catches on fire so he rips them off. In Starks essay he says this could be that the constricted blood vessels under the skin begin to dilate and cause extreme sensation of heat to the skin. Stark’s core body temperature falls to 85 degrees and according to the online article the shivering stops and there is no energy left to keep going, causing the body temperature to fall even lower. When the core body temperature falls below 85 degrees this is profound hypothermia. The Science of cold informs you that in this phase the body has stopped trying to warm itself and makes some final steps to avoid death. The heart rate slows down making it very difficult to detect at all. The victim may only take one to two breathes per minute and the skin may be very pale and icy cold to touch. The limbs are stiff, pupils dilate and do not react to light. The victim may appear to be dead, and the metabolism slows so far that they are in a state of suspension. When Stark’s friends finally find him he is curled up by the log he tripped over and they presume him dead. One of the rescuers puts her ear to his chest and hears a faint thump. She wraps him in a spare parka knowing that they must warm him slowly so he will survive this profound state of hypothermia. The rescuers work slowly and are careful not to cause any sudden mishaps. When they arrive to the hospital, doctors had never seen a core body temperature so low it is now at 78.9 degrees. The doctors are not sure how to revive him without killing him. Stark states that “ many hypothermia victims die each year in the process of being rescued. In “rewarming shock,” the constricted capillaries reopen almost all at on...