the signs that should alert you, according to a doctor

“You can be outside in shorts in the spring, with a temperature of 15, 10 or 5 degrees, and you can die of hypothermia in those conditions.”, says Dr. Daniel Wu, chief of emergency medicine at the Grady Health Systemin the United States. In an article for MedicalXpresshe explains the signs that show that a person has hypothermia.

Severe hypothermia below 28°C

Hypothermia is, according toHealth Insurancean involuntary cooling of the internal body temperature below 35°C. There are different levels of severity:

• mild hypothermia: between 35 and 32.2°C;
• moderate: between 32.2 and 28°C;
• severe: below 28°C.

“Difficult to detect when it begins, hypothermia first affects those most vulnerable to the cold”, indicates Health Insurance. It is therefore necessary to be particularly vigilant with elderly people and babies.

In a report, Public health France add that “urban hypothermia mainly affects the homeless and drunk people“. Indeed, the ethanol contained in alcohol causes vasodilation, which gives a feeling of warmth.

Tremors, first symptom of hypothermia

When a person is cold, they show the following signs: cold extremities (feet, hands, nose and cheeks), goosebumps, chills, numbness of fingers and toes. But Dr. Daniel Wu says shaking, especially uncontrollable, is the first sign of hypothermia. At this point, the person simply needs to warm up by getting indoors or wearing warm clothing.

Other signs can alert:

• staccato speech;
• confused speech or muttering;
• loss of attention, judgment and memory;
• lack of coordination in movements and difficulty walking and moving;
• cold, gray skin;
• fatigue et somnolence.

“One of the things that causes people to lose heat very quickly is having cold or wet clothes.“, indicates Dr Daniel Wu. He emphasizes that hypothermia becomes serious when the tremors stop and other symptoms appear: slow breathing, confusion or even loss of consciousness. In this case, you must call the emergency services.