Re: [Paddlewise] Cold and skills

JoeP asked: >>This last Saturday I had a student who took a long swim on a
broad river at
60 deg F.  He was fine then and happily paddled another two miles to the
takeout.  Good on the way
back, too. But yesterday he mentioned that he'd spent a lot of the last few
days sleeping,
and just never felt active during that period -- even had doubts about being
able to perform
this coming weekend. So, is this a common observation of what happens after a
hypothermic
challenge?<<

While not having personally experienced this, it would seem like a possible
result depending on the treatment rendered after removing the person from the
cold challenge. Additionally, this would be more likely, I would think,
depending on where they really were on the hypothermic scale. The fact that
they
experienced this state of apparent exhaustion, would indicate to me that they
were perhaps more hypothermic than thought post incident, i.e., greater
medical
danger than thought.

With exposure to a cold challenge, in this case cold water, our body will go
into a survival mode (shell-core shunt) where the blood will go from the
extreminities to the vital organs to keep them at proper operating
temperature.
And, our body will try to generate heat by shivering. Both, can use a lot of
the
energy stores we have on-board at that point in time (same is true in someone
having a seizure).  Thus, treatment for anyone taking a "cold swim" would need
to include replenishment of the energy store with simple sugars followed by
more
complex carbohydrates, and drinking water to keep hydrated. This is, of
course,
in addition to removal from the cold challenge, including dry clothing,
insulation to retain heat, and protecting from the wind. While exercise
(continuing to paddle) is good for heat generation, without replenishment of
the
energy store, we may make them worse off in the long run as we further deplete
them.

John Browning, EMT, WEMT
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry










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