How is hypothermia treated?
Mild hypothermia where the body core temperature is greater than 90F can be treated by warming the person up. This can be exercise, replacing of wet clothing with dry clothing, getting to a warm place, getting the victim out of the wind, etc. One way of treating hypothermia in the field is to strip the clothes off of the victim and place them into a sleeping bag with one or two other stripped people. This provides the victim with a source of heat that will gradually warm them up. If wet clothing cannot be replaced, cover them with a layer of non-breathing material such as a rain suit and then cover them with a dry layer of insulation. Covering them with a rain suit will prevent further cooling by evaporation and keep the dry layer of insulation from getting wet. Even though materials such as polypropelene, capilene, polyester fleece, wool, etc. do insulate when wet, they are not as efficient when compared to dry clothing. There is heat loss due to evaporation and conduction when these
