Hypothermia practice questions for Alberta

Hypothermia questions

1. 1After a wet, windy morning your partner is fumbling with a zipper, slurring words, and stumbling on flat ground. What are you seeing?

   1. AEarly hypothermia, as a cooling core starts to affect coordination and thinking
   2. BOrdinary tiredness that a short rest will fix
   3. CDehydration and nothing more
   4. DFrostbite in the hands
   Show the answer

   AEarly hypothermia, as a cooling core starts to affect coordination and thinking

   Losing fine motor control and clear speech is the body signalling that its core temperature is dropping. It is easy to dismiss as being tired, and that is exactly how hypothermia gets dangerous before anyone reacts.

2. 2The thermometer reads 8 degrees Celsius and your friend says it is far too warm for hypothermia. Is he right?

   1. ANo, because wet clothing and wind can cool a body dangerously at temperatures well above freezing
   2. BYes, hypothermia needs temperatures below freezing
   3. CYes, unless somebody falls into water
   4. DNo, but only when it is snowing
   Show the answer

   ANo, because wet clothing and wind can cool a body dangerously at temperatures well above freezing

   Most hypothermia happens in cool, wet, windy weather rather than deep cold, largely because nobody dresses for it. Water pulls heat out of a body many times faster than dry air, so soaked clothing does the damage the thermometer does not predict.

3. 3You get a shivering, soaked hunter back to camp. What order do you work in?

   1. AGet them out of the wind, swap wet clothing for dry insulation, and offer warm sweet drinks if they are fully alert
   2. BGive them a shot of whisky to warm them from the inside
   3. CRub their arms and legs hard to drive circulation
   4. DPut them straight into a very hot bath
   Show the answer

   AGet them out of the wind, swap wet clothing for dry insulation, and offer warm sweet drinks if they are fully alert

   Stopping further heat loss always comes before adding heat, so wind and wet clothes are dealt with first. Alcohol feels warming because it opens the blood vessels in the skin, and that is precisely why it speeds up core cooling.

4. 4Halfway up a ridge on a cold morning you realize you are sweating under your jacket. What is the right move?

   1. AVent or shed a layer now, because sweat soaked clothing will chill you as soon as you stop climbing
   2. BKeep it all on so you do not waste the heat you built
   3. CClimb faster so the sweat dries off
   4. DDrink less water for the rest of the day
   Show the answer

   AVent or shed a layer now, because sweat soaked clothing will chill you as soon as you stop climbing

   Sweat is wet clothing that you made yourself, and it does its damage the moment you sit still. Opening up while you are still warm feels backwards in the cold, but staying dry is what keeps you warm an hour later.