Re: [Paddlewise] Hypothermia

Hi folks!

I´m not a doctor, but I´ve heard several things about the different levels
of hypothermia.

I remember a story a paddling friend told me 2 years ago. He was almost
ready with his medicine studies and was working a few months in Narvik
hospital (northern Norway), when the following incident appears. It was his
last working day:

In march or april (???) two colleagues from Narvik hospital were on a skiing
trip nearby. It was melting time and they were crossing a frozen river (no
risk no fun), when the ice breaks under the skies of the woman (surgery
doctor). She was lucky, hanging with head first into the cold river and only
the skies avoid that she was up an away with the river under the ice. Her
colleague couldn´t get her out of the water and so he grabs the mobile Fon,
with the stiff fingers he lost it to the river. The second phone got
immediate contact to the next station (not normal for Norway!) and he phoned
up the Narvik hospital (only few Kilometre away). The chief nurse knows what
to do, press all buttons and alarms all necessary people.
On that day, really everything was perfect. In Svolvaer (biggest town on
lofotes) a SAR Chopper was ready to take off and got an anaesthesia
assistant on board by pure chance. They start and fly to Narvik hospital,
get up a doc and went to the river. Meanwhile several helpers had hurry up,
gone to the river. One of the men took by a sudden idea a heavy shovel with
him. This shovel should rescue the womans life.
They start to make a hole in the ice behind the woman, where they thought
her head had to be under the ice. Nobody could get her out through the first
hole because her jacket functions as a parachute, so they pray the skies
would stand the power.
But the ice was so thick, they break all knife, break the skies, nothig was
able to make a hole in it, only the heavy shovel was able to. By this way,
they got the woman out of the river, with head first. The SAR Shopper comes
an they start to get her up.
The woman was about half a hour in the icecold water, so she was almost
frozen. They fly direct to the next bigger hospital in Tromsö (Tromsö gots
the most northern University in world). On the landing field everythng was
ready, just on the field they attached a heart-lounge-machine to the woman
and then went to a special room especially fitted for hypothermia cases.
The body centre temperature was down to about (don´t nail me on the exact
temp) 12 or 15 degree Celsius (about 285-288 degree Kelvin). She was really
shock frosted and that saved her life.
They place her in a special bed an start to cool her down. YES, cool down.
By the helicopter transport her body temp. had get up for two degrees. And
that´s to much in such a short time. I think the lowest temp. was about 13,6
degree Celsius. Absolutely world record, until today.
Next 3 days (THREE) they warm her up under controlled conditions to normal
body temp. Then the woman wakes up and everybody couldn´t believe it, she
was okay. The only problems she got afterwards were some diffuse irritations
in the outer extremeties. There´s almost no feeling in the fingers. Thats
all, but hard for a surgery doctor!

An unbelieveable case and everything had worked great. The rescueing chain
was first class.

The story was publicated in late August or Septembre 99, I think. Shortly
after Volker returns from Norway  I ask him, if he had heard from this case.
He was laughing, because he´d been almost nearby and knows everything from
first hand. A extreme important part of medicine history. Just think on
complicate heart operations, when they have to stop everything and cool the
body down...

The story was a little revolution, it was the first time a person survives
such an extreme accident and they had waited with the publication, just to
give the woman time to get back into live.

Hope I´ve found the right words. Its a little bit complicate to explain such
an incident without good english and without being eye-witness.


If somebody suffers under a hard form of hypothermia it is the biggest and
(mostly) the last fault just to warm the person, give something warm to
drink, a hot shower or something else. By light forms its okay, but differs
from case to case. A circulation collapse is everytime possible, so have an
eye on such persons!
By hard hypothermia you have to avoid EVERYTHING which could restart the
body circulatory in the extremeties. If you do so, the cold blood comes to
the slightly warm inner body and a total circulatory collapse will happen
and the person will die immediately.
Many hypothermia suffering persons die, when the rescuers hold them on their
legs. Collapse! You have to keep the person flat, flat, falt and rewarm the
body as slow as possible.
There ist a new system. USA and Canada use it for several years and the
DGzRS (german sea rescue squad) got it also on every ship.  It had saved
many lifes, yet. The persons are given heated air. Over the lounge the body
is warmed directly over the blood. If you drink a warm tea, the body would
need blood for the stomage and get it from the extremeties.

I think it would be better to ask a specialised medicine to get more exact
information on all forms of hypothermia. This aspect should also be part of
every good seakayak teaching book, I think. Biggest enemy isn´t the water,
it is the cold or everyone to themself...

Maybe my text is understandable enough for you.

best regards
Jochen Grikschat

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