How cold is too cold?

It’s no secret, especially over the past week, that Alaska is a cold place to live in the winter. So it’s to be expected that some people die from hypothermia and others lose limbs or suffer heart attacks.

There are ways, though, to avoid those catastrophes.

Joe Sylvia, who heads up MatSar Search and Rescue in the Valley, offers his professional advice:

“When I’m asked to speak about cold-weather survival, one of the first things I do is show the audience what items I carry with me in various situations.”

While in a vehicle you must be able to access your survival kit from inside your car. This is only a recommended list of items.

1. Fresh drinking water.

2. Food (nuts and energy bars).

3. Whistle.

4. Waterproof matches and long-burning candle.

5. Flashlight.

6. Road flares.

7. Blankets.

8. First aid kit with spare glasses and a few days of personal medication.

9. Collapsible metal shovel.

10. Jumper cables.

11. Cell phone and charger.

12. Rope.

13. Cutting device (EMS scissors, pocket knife).

14. Duct tape. 

15. Spare gloves, hat and boots.

16. Short length of carpet or traction devices.

17. Metal cup or bowl to heat up soup or melt snow

“When I go hiking, the first thing I do is file a trip plan,” Sylvia said. “I tell someone where I will be and how long I will be gone. I’ll tell whoever I call that I expect to be out of the backcountry by noon, and if they don’t hear from me by 2 p.m., then I’m in trouble and they should call for help.

“If you are traveling in the backcountry, you should already know to dress in layers with no cotton etc. I carry a rather larger backpack with items I’d like to have with me while in the backcountry but in a pocket I keep a small survival pack that I feel I will need if I become separated from my pack and I am lost or injured and unable to travel.” The pack includes:

1. A two-person survival blanket that is waterproof, windproof and easily repairable. 

2. Duct tape, at least ten feet — a must for repair and improvisation.

3. Signal mirror.

4. Waterproof matches.

5. Compass.

6. Fishing gear .

7. Fire starter.

8. Whistle.

“All of the items above are sold as a kit called SOL Survival Kit and can be purchased at most outdoor retail centers,” he said. “I have included a small LED flashlight and 50 feet of Para Cord as well as a weatherproof lighter. I’m not sure about the fishing gear. I also removed the compass. It is my belief if I need to use my survival kit, I’m lost or injured and will be in need of assistance leaving the woods.

“This brings me to the single most important peace of advice I can offer to any person lost or in need of assistance in the wilderness, any time of the year. If you are lost, admit it. Find a safe place to stop, do not move from that area. Wait for help. It happens all too often that a search team finds an item that was dropped by the missing person as they try to self-rescue. If you would have stayed put where you were, you would have been found and on your way home that much quicker.

“Lastly, if you have filed a trip plan, help will be on the way,” Sylvia said. “Understand that it may take several hours maybe a day or two to find you. With out that trip plan it will take much longer.”

For skiers

This advice is from Bob Sutherland who leads tours for the Nordic Skiing Association of Anchorage.

“We like to wear layers so when we start to warm up, we can take some off to cool when we take breaks,” he said.

Mentioning breaks, he said, “Our discovery of the year,” is puff jackets and pants. “They are a thin, light, insulated layer that are easy to put on.” He said they are also easy to pack.

He also recommends filling a thermos with hot water and putting a sock around it to further insulate it. Then the skiers have something warm to drink when they break for a rest.

As for avoiding hypothermia, Sutherland said, “Cover every square inch of skin. At most, the cheek bones,” maybe left bare. He’s also an advocate of hand and foot warmers to put in mittens or socks to keep them warm.

“The key is to have adequate clothing and not sweat.”

He also advised skiers to go out for a small amount of time to see what kind of conditions they will face before committing to a full day of unknown weather and temperatures.

What is hypothermia?

Hypothermia occurs when more heat escapes from your body than your body can produce, the Mayo Clinic reports. Signs and symptoms of hypothermia may include gradual loss of mental and physical abilities. Severe hypothermia can lead to death.

For most people, hypothermia isn’t a serious risk. Still, each year nearly 700 people in the United States die of hypothermia. Prolonged exposure to cold air or cold water temperatures are common causes.

When you’re outdoors enjoying such activities as camping, hunting, fishing, boating and skiing, be aware of weather conditions and whether you or others with you are wet and cold. If you get cold and wet, move indoors and get warm and dry early — before you develop hypothermia.

A condition in which the internal temperature of the human body is at least 3.6°F below an internal temperature of 98.6°F.

A temperature of 95 is only the beginning of mild hypothermia. Shivering can continue for hours, depending on the muscle and fat supplies available. Eventually, the environment becomes overwhelming. At 86 degrees, the person loses consciousness and shivering ceases. Death does not occur until the internal temperature drops further: Death results at 68–77 degrees because of cardiac standstill.

Symptoms

Hypothermia usually occurs gradually. Often, people aren’t aware that they need help, much less medical attention. Common signs to look for are shivering, which is your body’s attempt to generate heat through muscle activity, and the “-umbles:”

• Stumbles

• Mumbles

• Fumbles

• Grumbles

These behaviors may be a result of changes in consciousness and motor coordination caused by hypothermia. Other hypothermia symptoms may include:

• Slurred speech

• Abnormally slow rate of breathing

• Cold, pale skin

• Fatigue, lethargy or apathy

Risk factors

• Advanced age. People age 65 and older are especially vulnerable because they may have other illnesses or take medications that can interfere with the body’s ability to regulate temperature.

• Very young age. Children usually lose heat faster than adults do. Children have a larger head-to-body ratio than adults do, making them more prone to heat loss through the head. Children may also ignore the cold because they’re having too much fun to think about it. And they may not have the judgment to dress properly in cold weather or to get out of the cold when they feel cold. Infants may have a special problem with the cold because they have less efficient mechanisms for generating heat.

• Mental impairment. People with Alzheimer’s disease or another illness that causes mental impairment may not be aware of the risks of being out in the cold. Wandering is not uncommon among people with Alzheimer’s, and some affected people may stray away from home and be unable to find their way back on their own. Being stranded leaves them vulnerable to the weather.

• Alcohol and drug use. Alcohol may make your body feel warm inside, but it lowers your body’s ability to retain heat. Both alcohol and drugs such as marijuana can keep your blood vessels dilated, restrict your shivering response, impair your judgment and alter your awareness of weather conditions.

• Certain medical conditions. Some health disorders affect your body’s ability to respond to cold or to produce heat. Examples include untreated underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism), stroke, severe arthritis, Parkinson’s disease, trauma, spinal cord injuries, burns, blood vessel or nerve disorders that affect sensation in your extremities (for example, peripheral neuropathy in people with diabetes), dehydration and any condition that limits activity or restrains the normal flow of blood. Older adults are more likely to have one or more of these risk factors.

What to do

• Move the person out of the cold. Preventing additional heat loss is crucial. If you’re unable to move the person out of the cold, shield the person from the cold and wind as best you can.

• Remove wet clothing. If the person is wearing wet clothing, remove it and replace it with a dry covering. Cover the person’s head. Try not to move the person too much. Cut away clothing if you need to.

• Insulate the person’s body from the cold ground. Lay the person face up on a blanket or other warm surface.

• Monitor breathing. A person with severe hypothermia may appear unconscious, with no apparent signs of a pulse or breathing. If the person’s breathing has stopped or appears dangerously low or shallow, begin cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) immediately if you’re trained.

• Share body heat. To warm the person’s body, remove your clothing and lie next to the person, making skin-to-skin contact. Then cover both of your bodies with a blanket.

• Provide warm beverages. If the affected person is alert and is able to swallow, have the person drink a warm, nonalcoholic beverage to help warm the body.

What not to do

• Don’t apply direct heat. Don’t use hot water, a heating pad or a heating lamp to warm the person. Instead, apply warm compresses to the neck, chest wall and groin. Don’t attempt to warm the arms and legs. Heat applied to the arms and legs forces cold blood back toward the heart, lungs and brain, causing the core body temperature to drop. This can be fatal.

• Don’t massage or rub the person. Handle people with hypothermia gently because they’re at risk of cardiac arrest.

• Don’t provide alcoholic beverages. Alcohol lowers the body’s ability to retain heat.

Staying healthy in cold weather

Before you or your children step out into cold air, remember the advice that follows with the simple acronym COLD — cover, overexertion, layers, dry:

• Cover. Wear a hat or other protective covering to prevent body heat from escaping from your head, face and neck. Cover your hands with mittens instead of gloves. Mittens are more effective than gloves are because mittens keep your fingers in closer contact with one another.

• Overexertion. Avoid activities that would cause you to sweat a lot. The combination of wet clothing and cold weather can give you chills.

• Layers. Wear loose-fitting, layered, lightweight clothing. Outer clothing made of tightly woven, water-repellent material is best for wind protection. Wool, silk or polypropylene inner layers hold more body heat than cotton does.

• Dry. Stay as dry as possible. In the winter, pay special attention to places where snow can enter, such as in loose mittens or snow boots.

DEADLY COLD

Deaths due to exposure to natural cold:

YEAR                 DEATHS

1999    12

2000    11

2001    9

2002    18

2003    6

2004    8

2005    15

2006    16

2007    20

Total    115

These figures come from the Alaska Bureau of Vital Statistics and reflect only deaths by hypothermia with no other factors such as alcohol or drug use, previous medical conditions or other outside factors.