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Camo My Ka-Bar!
The other day I was in the gun shop picking up some supplies and I spotted a roll of Camo Form® Protective Camouflage Wrap.
I’ve heard some good reviews about this stuff so I bought it and it’s been sitting in my desk drawer ever since!
But today I’m stuck inside due to the weather so I thought I’d grab it and camo my Ka Bar knife handle.
It worked out pretty well.
I mean I certainly didn’t do a perfect job but it gives my knife a good grib and it look quite nice.
I’m impressed!
My Ka Bar Before
My Ka Bar After
Here’s the official camoform tutorial which also shows you how to camo your gun with Camoform.
Wolf’s Review: Windmill Delta Stormproof Lighter
It’s always a good idea to know how to make fire with flint and steel or by rubbing sticks together but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t pack a lighter for when you need a quick flame with minimal fuss.
The Windmill Delta Stormproof Lighter lets you make a quick fire without having to burn those precious calories you need to survive if TSHTF.
Designed to light in winds as high as 80 miles per hour, this survival lighter will also work in temperatures down to 40 degrees below zero F!!
The Delta Storm proof lighter utilizes a platinum catalyzer coil to ignite butane fuel via piezo-electric ignition. This allows it to make a flame even when damp(very handy in a survival situation).
The manufacturer claims the lighter will perform thirty thousand ignitions. With a full tank butane (one gram) , you can expect about 300 three to five second ignitions, easily enough for several week long expeditions.
The Delta Shockproof Series has a large fuel window that makes it easy to check on fuel levels.
Two other handy features are it’s adjustable gas flow which allows for usage at varying elevations and O-ring seals that keep water out when the cap is closed.
All in all I find it too be a very robust, strong and powerful little lighter than will definately be your best friend in a survival situation.
I haven’t gotten a chance to run a feild test with this lighter yet due to a Fire Ban currently being in effect in my area but as soon I can I will conduct one and post it on the site.
Skinning and Butchering Game
Bleed the animal by cutting its throat.
If possible, clean the carcass near a stream.
Place the carcass belly up and split the hide from throat to tail, cutting around all sexual organs (Figure 8-25).
Remove the musk glands at points A and B to avoid tainting the meat.
For smaller mammals, cut the hide around the body and insert two fingers under the hide on both sides of the cut and pull both pieces off (Figure 8-26).
Note: When cutting the hide, insert the knife blade under the skin and turn the blade up so that only the hide gets cut.
This will also prevent cutting hair and getting it on the meat.
Remove the entrails from smaller game by splitting the body open and pulling them out with the fingers.
Do not forget the chest cavity.
For larger game, cut the gullet away from the diaphragm.
Roll the entrails out of the body.
Cut around the anus, then reach into the lower abdominal cavity, grasp the lower intestine, and pull to remove.
Remove the urine bladder by pinching it off and cutting it below the fingers.
If you spill urine on the meat, wash it to avoid tainting the meat.
Save the heart and liver.
Cut these open and inspect for signs of worms or other parasites.
Also inspect the liver’s color; it could indicate a diseased animal.
The liver’s surface should be smooth and wet and its color deep red or purple.
If the liver appears diseased, discard it.
However, a diseased liver does not indicate you cannot eat the muscle tissue.
Cut along each leg from above the foot to the previously made body cut.
Remove the hide by pulling it away from the carcass, cutting the connective tissue where necessary.
Cut off the head and feet.
Cut larger game into manageable pieces.
First, slice the muscle tissue connecting the front legs to the body.
There are no bones or joints connecting the front legs to the body on four-legged animals.
Cut the hindquarters off where they join the body.
You must cut around a large bone at the top of the leg and cut to the ball and socket hip joint.
Cut the ligaments around the joint and bend it back to separate it.
Remove the large muscles (the tenderloin) that lie on either side of the spine.
Separate the ribs from the backbone.
There is less work and less wear on your knife if you break the ribs first, then cut through the breaks.
Cook large meat pieces over a spit or boil them.
You can stew or boil smaller pieces, particularly those that remain attached to bone after the initial butchering, as soup or broth.
You can cook body organs such as the heart, liver, pancreas, spleen, and kidneys using the same methods as for muscle meat.
You can also cook and eat the brain. Cut the tongue out, skin it, boil it until tender, and eat it.
Preparation of Fish and Game in a Survival Situation Part 2
Snakes
To skin a snake, first cut off its head and bury it.
Then cut the skin down the body 15 to 20 centimeters
Peel the skin back, then grasp the skin in one hand and the body in the other and pull apart.
On large, bulky snakes it may be necessary to slit the belly skin.
Cook snakes in the same manner as small game.
Remove the entrails and discard. Cut the snake into small sections and boil or roast it.
Birds
After killing the bird, remove its feathers by either plucking or skinning.
Remember, skinning removes some of the food value.
Open up the body cavity and remove its entrails, saving the craw (in seed-eating birds), heart, and liver.
Cut off the feet. Cook by boiling or roasting over a spit.
Before cooking scavenger birds, boil them at least 20 minutes to kill parasites.
Preventing And Treating Shock In A Survival Situation
There are many survival scenarios that may lead to you having to deal with somebody who is in shock or in danger of going into shock due to injury.
The best bet is to always anticipate shock in all injured persons.
Treat all injured persons as follows, regardless of what symptoms appear:
· If the victim is conscious, place him on a level surface with the lower extremities elevated 15 to 20 centimeters.
· If the victim is unconscious, place him on his side or abdomen with his head turned to one side to prevent choking on vomit, blood, or other fluids.
· If you are unsure of the best position, place the victim perfectly flat. Once the victim is in a shock position, do not move him.
· Maintain body heat by insulating the victim from the surroundings and, in some instances, applying external heat.
· If wet, remove all the victim’s wet clothing as soon as possible and replace with dry clothing.
· Improvise a shelter to insulate the victim from the weather.
· Use warm liquids or foods, a prewarmed sleeping bag, another person, warmed water in canteens, hot rocks wrapped in clothing, or fires on either side of the victim to provide external warmth.
· If the victim is conscious, slowly administer small doses of a warm salt or sugar solution, if available.
· If the victim is unconscious or has abdominal wounds, do not give fluids by mouth.
· Have the victim rest for at least 24 hours.
· If you are a lone survivor, lie in a depression in the ground, behind a tree, or any other place out of the weather, with your head lower than your feet.
· If you are with a buddy, reassess your patient constantly.
Herbal Remedies for Various Ailments
Here’s a list of remedies for various ailments that you might face in a survival situation (Thanks to my sister Fuchsia for helping me compile this list!!)
Please Note: The following remedies are for use ONLY in a survival situation, not for routine use:
· Diarrhea. Drink tea made from the roots of blackberries and their relatives to stop diarrhea.
White oak bark and other barks containing tannin are also effective.
However, use them with caution when nothing else is available because of possible negative effects on the kidneys.
You can also stop diarrhea by eating white clay or campfire ashes.
Tea made from cowberry or cranberry or hazel leaves works too.
· Antihemorrhagics. Make medications to stop bleeding from a poultice of the puffball mushroom, from plantain leaves, or most effectively from the leaves of the common yarrow or woundwort (Achillea millefolium).
· Antiseptics. Use to cleanse wounds, sores, or rashes.
You can make them from the expressed juice from wild onion or garlic, or expressed juice from chickweed leaves or the crushed leaves of dock.
You can also make antiseptics from a decoction of burdock root, mallow leaves or roots, or white oak bark.
All these medications are for external use only.
· Fevers. Treat a fever with a tea made from willow bark, an infusion of elder flowers or fruit, linden flower tea, or elm bark decoction.
· Colds and sore throats. Treat these illnesses with a decoction made from either plantain leaves or willow bark.
You can also use a tea made from burdock roots, mallow or mullein flowers or roots, or mint leaves.
· Aches, pains, and sprains. Treat with externally applied poultices of dock, plantain, chickweed, willow bark, garlic, or sorrel.
You can also use salves made by mixing the expressed juices of these plants in animal fat or vegetable oils.
· Itching. Relieve the itch from insect bites, sunburn, or plant poisoning rashes by applying a poultice of jewelweed (Impatiens biflora) or witch hazel leaves (Hamamelis virginiana).
The jewelweed juice will help when applied to poison ivy rashes or insect stings.
It works on sunburn as well as aloe vera.
· Sedatives. Get help in falling asleep by brewing a tea made from mint leaves or passionflower leaves.
· Hemorrhoids. Treat them with external washes from elm bark or oak bark tea, from the expressed juice of plantain leaves, or from a Solomon’s seal root decoction.
· Constipation. Relieve constipation by drinking decoctions from dandelion leaves, rose hips, or walnut bark. Eating raw daylily flowers will also help.
· Worms or intestinal parasites. Using moderation, treat with tea made from tansy (Tanacetum vulgare) or from wild carrot leaves.
· Gas and cramps. Use a tea made from carrot seeds as an antiflatulent; use tea made from mint leaves to settle the stomach.
· Antifungal washes. Make a decoction of walnut leaves or oak bark or acorns to treat ringworm and athlete’s foot.
Apply frequently to the site, alternating with exposure to direct sunlight.
The Basic Principles of Cold Weather Survival
With winter just around the corner for you folks in the Northern Hemisphere, I’ve decided now is the perfect time to discuss The Basic Principles of Cold Weather Survival.
It is more difficult for you to satisfy your basic water, food, and shelter needs in a cold environment than in a warm environment.
Even if you have the basic requirements, you must also have adequate protective clothing and the will to survive.
The will to survive is as important as the basic needs.
There have been incidents when trained and well-equipped individuals have not survived cold weather situations because they lacked the will to live.
Conversely, this will has sustained individuals less welltrained and equipped.
There are many different items of cold weather equipment and clothing available today.
If you have the money then you get hold of newer, lightweight gear such as polypropylene underwear, GORETEX outerwear and boots, and other special equipment.
Remember, however, older gear (such as Army surplus clothing) will keep you warm as long as you apply a few cold weather principles.
If the newer types of clothing are available use them.
If not, then your clothing should be entirely wool, with the possible exception of a windbreaker.
You must not only have enough clothing to protect you from the cold, you must also know how to maximize the warmth you get from it.
For example, always keep your head covered.
You can lose 40 to 45 percent of body heat from an unprotected head and even more from the unprotected neck, wrist, and ankles.
These areas of the body are good radiators of heat and have very little insulating fat.
The brain is very susceptible to cold and can stand the least amount of cooling.
Because there is much blood circulation in the head, most of which is on the surface, you can lose heat quickly if you do not cover your head.
There are four basic principles to follow to keep warm. An easy way to remember these basic principles
is to use the word COLD–
C - Keep clothing clean.
O - Avoid overheating.
L - Wear clothes loose and in layers.
D - Keep clothing dry.
C – Keep clothing clean. This principle is always important for sanitation and comfort.
In winter, it is also important from the standpoint of warmth.
Clothes matted with dirt and grease lose much of their insulation value.
Heat can escape more easily from the body through the clothing’s crushed or filled up air pockets.
O – Avoid overheating. When you get too hot, you sweat and your clothing absorbs the moisture.
This affects your warmth in two ways: dampness decreases the insulation quality of clothing, and as sweat evaporates, your body cools.
Adjust your clothing so that you do not sweat.
Do this by partially opening your parka or jacket, by removing an inner layer of clothing, by removing heavy outer mittens, or by throwing back your parka hood or changing to lighter headgear.
The head and hands act as efficient heat dissipaters when overheated.
L – Wear your clothing loose and in layers. Wearing tight clothing and footgear restricts blood circulation and invites cold injury.
It also decreases the volume of air trapped between the layers, reducing its insulating value.
Several layers of lightweight clothing are better than one equally thick layer of clothing, because the layers have dead-air space between them.
The dead-air space provides extra insulation.
Also, layers of clothing allow you to take off or add clothing layers to prevent excessive sweating or to increase warmth.
D – Keep clothing dry. In cold temperatures, your inner layers of clothing can become wet from sweat and your outer layer, if not water repellent, can become wet from snow and frost melted by body heat.
Wear water repellent outer clothing, if available.
It will shed most of the water collected from melting snow and frost.
Before entering a heated shelter, brush off the snow and frost.
Despite the precautions you take, there will be times when you cannot keep from getting wet.
At such times, drying your clothing may become a major problem.
If you’re on the move, hang your damp mittens and socks on your rucksack.
Sometimes in freezing temperatures, the wind and sun will dry this clothing.
You can also place damp socks or mittens, unfolded, near your body so that your body heat can dry them.
In a campsite, hang damp clothing inside the shelter near the top, using drying lines or improvised racks.
You may even be able to dry each item by holding it before an open fire.
Dry leather items slowly.
If no other means are available for drying your boots, put them between your sleeping bag shell and liner.
Your body heat will help to dry the leather.
A heavy, down-lined sleeping bag is a valuable piece of survival gear in cold weather.
Ensure the down remains dry. If wet, it loses a lot of its insulation value.
If you do not have a sleeping bag, you can make one out of a rubbish bag (or something similar) and natural dry material, such as leaves, pine needles, or moss.
Place the dry material between two layers of the material.
Other important survival items are a knife; waterproof matches in a waterproof container, preferably one with a flint attached; a durable compass; map; watch; waterproof ground cloth and cover; flashlight; binoculars; dark glasses; fatty emergency foods; food gathering gear; and signaling items.
Remember, a cold weather environment can be very harsh.
Give a good deal of thought to selecting the right equipment for survival in the cold.
If unsure of an item you have never used, test it in an “overnight backyard” environment before venturing further.
Once you have selected items that are essential for your survival, do not lose them after you enter a cold weather environment!
Dealing With Poisonous Plants In A Survival Situation
If you are in a survival situation then there is a high probability that you are going to be consuming some of the local flora in order to sustain yourself.
But you can’t go running through the wilderness Willy Nilly munching on whatever plant takes your fancy!
One bite of the wrong plant and you could be dead in minutes!!
That why it is vital you not only know how to identify poisonous plants but you also understand how they poison, what to do if you get poisoned and how to deal with poisonous plants in general.
Successful use of plants in a survival situation depends on positive identification.
Knowing poisonous plants is as important to a survivor as knowing edible plants.
Knowing the poisonous plants will help you avoid sustaining injuries from them.
How Plants Poison
Plants generally poison by–
· Ingestion. When a person eats a part of a poisonous plant.
· Contact. When a person makes contact with a poisonous plant that causes any type of skin irritation or dermatitis.
· Absorption or inhalation. When a person either absorbs the poison through the skin or inhales it into the respiratory system.
Plant poisoning ranges from minor irritation to death.
A common question asked is, “How poisonous is this plant?”
It is difficult to say how poisonous plants are because–
· Some plants require contact with a large amount of the plant before noticing any adverse reaction while others will cause death with only a small amount.
· Every plant will vary in the amount of toxins it contains due to different growing conditions and slight variations in subspecies.
· Every person has a different level of resistance to toxic substances.
· Some persons may be more sensitive to a particular plant.
Some common misconceptions about poisonous plants are–
· Watch the animals and eat what they eat. Most of the time this statement is true, but some animals can eat plants that are poisonous to humans.
· Boil the plant in water and any poisons will be removed. Boiling removes many poisons, but not all.
· Plants with a red color are poisonous. Some plants that are red are poisonous, but not all.
The point is there is no one rule to aid in identifying poisonous plants. You must make an effort to learn
as much about them as possible.
Learn About Plants If You Want To Survive
It is to your benefit to learn as much about plants as possible.
Many poisonous plants look like their edible relatives or like other edible plants.
For example, poison hemlock appears very similar to wild carrot.
Certain plants are safe to eat in certain seasons or stages of growth and poisonous in other stages.
For example, the leaves of the pokeweed are edible when it first starts to grow, but it soon becomes poisonous.
You can eat some plants and their fruits only when they are ripe.
For example, the ripe fruit of mayapple is edible, but all other parts and the green fruit are poisonous.
Some plants contain both edible and poisonous parts; potatoes and tomatoes are common plant foods, but their green parts are poisonous.
Some plants become toxic after wilting.
For example, when the black cherry starts to wilt, hydrocyanic acid develops.
Specific preparation methods make some plants edible that are poisonous raw.
You can eat the thinly sliced and thoroughly dried corms (drying may take a year) of the jack-in-the-pulpit, but they are poisonous if not thoroughly dried.
Learn to identify and use plants before a survival situation.
Some sources of information about plants are pamphlets, books, films, nature trails, botanical gardens, local markets, and local natives.
Gather and cross-reference information from as many sources as possible, because many sources will not contain all the information needed.
Rules For Avoiding Poisonous Plants
Your best policy is to be able to look at a plant and identify it with absolute certainty and to know its uses or dangers.
Many times this is not possible.
If you have little or no knowledge of the local vegetation, use the rules to select plants for the “Universal Edibility Test.”
Remember, avoid –
· All mushrooms. Mushroom identification is very difficult and must be precise, even more so than with other plants. Some mushrooms cause death very quickly.
Some mushrooms have no known antidote. Two general types of mushroom poisoning are gastrointestinal and central nervous system.
· Contact with or touching plants unnecessarily.
Contact Dermatitis
Contact dermatitis from plants will usually cause the most trouble in the field. The effects may be persistent, spread by scratching, and are particularly dangerous if there is contact in or around the eyes.
The principal toxin of these plants is usually an oil that gets on the skin upon contact with the plant.
The oil can also get on equipment and then infect whoever touches the equipment.
Never bum a contact poisonous plant because the smoke may be as harmful as the plant.
There is a greater danger of being affected when overheated and sweating.
The infection may be local or it may spread over the body.
Symptoms may take from a few hours to several days to appear.
Signs and symptoms can include burning, reddening, itching, swelling, and blisters.
When you first contact the poisonous plants or the first symptoms appear, try to remove the oil by washing with soap and cold water.
If water is not available, wipe your skin repeatedly with dirt or sand.
Do not use dirt if blisters have developed.
The dirt may break open the blisters and leave the body open to infection.
After you have removed the oil, dry the area.
You can wash with a tannic acid solution and crush and rub jewelweed on the affected area to treat plant-caused rashes.
You can make tannic acid from oak bark.
Poisonous plants that cause contact dermatitis are–
· Cowhage.
· Poison ivy.
· Poison oak.
· Poison sumac.
· Rengas tree.
· Trumpet vine.
Ingestion Poisoning
Ingestion poisoning can be very serious and could lead to death very quickly.
Do not eat any plant unless you have positively identified it first. Keep a log of all plants eaten.
Signs and symptoms of ingestion poisoning can include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal cramps, depressed heartbeat and respiration, headaches, hallucinations, dry mouth, unconsciousness, coma, and death.
If you suspect plant poisoning, try to remove the poisonous material from the victim’s mouth and stomach as soon as possible. Induce vomiting by tickling the back of his throat or by giving him warm saltwater, if
he is conscious.
Dilute the poison by administering large quantities of water or milk, if the person is conscious.
The following plants can cause ingestion poisoning if eaten:
· Castor bean.
· Chinaberry.
· Death camas.
· Lantana.
· Manchineel.
· Oleander.
· Pangi.
· Physic nut.
· Poison and water hemlocks.
· Rosary pea.
· Strychnine tree.
Dealing With Snake Bites In A Survival Situation
If you live in or plan to travel to an area with poisonous snakes then if is vital that you have the knowledge to deal with snake bites.
Even under normal conditions with access to medical facilities, things can still go dramatically wrong if you take on a snake so just imagine what could happen if you are in a survival situation with no means of directly contacting medical assistance ??
It’s a scary thought so to help you guys out should you ever be in that type of situation, here’s a basic rundown on how to deal with poisonous snake bites in a survival situation.
The chance of a snakebite in a survival situation is rather small, if you are familiar with the various types of snakes and their habitats.
However, it could happen and you should know how to treat a snakebite.
Deaths from snakebites are rare.
More than one-half of the snakebite victims have little or no poisoning, and only about one-quarter develop serious systemic poisoning.
However, the chance of a snakebite in a survival situation can affect morale, and failure to take preventive measures or failure to treat a snakebite properly can result in needless tragedy.
The primary concern in the treatment of snakebite is to limit the amount of eventual tissue destruction around the bite area.
A bite wound, regardless of the type of animal that inflicted it, can become infected from bacteria in the animal’s mouth.
With nonpoisonous as well as poisonous snakebites, this local infection is responsible for a large part of the residual damage that results.
Snake venoms not only contain poisons that attack the victim’s central nervous system (neurotoxins) and blood circulation (hemotoxins), but also digestive enzymes (cytotoxins) to aid in digesting their prey.
These poisons can cause a very large area of tissue death, leaving a large open wound.
This condition could lead to the need for eventual amputation if not treated.
Shock and panic in a person bitten by a snake can also affect the person’s recovery.
Excitement, hysteria, and panic can speed up the circulation, causing the body to absorb the toxin quickly.
Signs of shock occur within the first 30 minutes after the bite.
Before you start treating a snakebite, determine whether the snake was poisonous or nonpoisonous.
Bites from a nonpoisonous snake will show rows of teeth whereas bites from a poisonous snake may have rows of teeth showing, but will have one or more distinctive puncture marks caused by fang penetration.
Symptoms of a poisonous bite may be spontaneous bleeding from the nose and anus, blood in the urine, pain at the site of the bite, and swelling at the site of the bite within a few minutes or up to 2 hours later.
Breathing difficulty, paralysis, weakness, twitching, and numbness are also signs of neurotoxic venoms.
These signs usually appear 1.5 to 2 hours after the bite.
If you determine that a poisonous snake bit an individual, take the following steps:
· Reassure the victim and keep him still.
· Set up for shock and force fluids or give an intravenous (IV).
· Remove watches, rings, bracelets, or other constricting items.
· Clean the bite area.
· Maintain an airway (especially if bitten near the face or neck) and be prepared to administer mouth-to-mouth resuscitation or CPR.
· Use a constricting band between the wound and the heart.
· Immobilize the site.
· Remove the poison as soon as possible by using a mechanical suction device or by squeezing.
DO NOT -
· Give the victim alcoholic beverages or tobacco products.
· Give morphine or other central nervous system (CNS) depressors.
· Make any deep cuts at the bite site. Cutting opens capillaries that in turn open a direct route into the blood stream for venom and infection.
· Put your hands on your face or rub your eyes, as venom may be on your hands. Venom may cause blindness.
· Break open the large blisters that form around the bite site.
Note: If medical treatment is over one hour away, make an incision (no longer than 6 millimeters and no deeper than 3 millimeter) over each puncture, cutting just deep enough to enlarge the fang opening, but only through the first or second layer of skin.
Place a suction cup over the bite so that you have a good vacuum seal.
Suction the bite site 3 to 4 times.
Use mouth suction only as a last resort and only if you do not have open sores in your mouth.
Spit the envenomed blood out and rinse your mouth with water.
This method will draw out 25 to 30 percent of the venom.
After caring for the victim as described above, take the following actions to minimize local effects:
· If infection appears, keep the wound open and clean.
· Use heat after 24 to 48 hours to help prevent the spread of local infection. Heat also helps to draw out an infection.
· Keep the wound covered with a dry, sterile dressing.
· Have the victim drink large amounts of fluids until the infection is gone.
How To Deal With Hypothermia In A Survival Situation
With the weather getting colder in the Northern Hemisphere I think it’s the right time to give you guys they run down on one of winter biggest killers, Hypothermia.
When exposed to prolonged cold weather a person may become both mentally and physically numb, thus neglecting essential tasks or requiring more time and
effort to achieve them.
Under some conditions (particularly cold water immersion), even a person in excellent physical condition may die in a matter of minutes.
The destructive influence of cold on the body is called hypothermia.
This means bodies lose heat faster than they can produce it.
Hypothermia can occur from exposure to temperatures either above or below freezing, especially from immersion in cold water, wet-cold conditions,
or from the effect of wind.
Physical exhaustion and insufficient food intake may also increase the risk of hypothermia.
General cooling of the entire body to a temperature below 95°F is caused by continued exposure to low or rapidly dropping temperatures, cold moisture, snow, or ice.
Fatigue, poor physical condition, dehydration, faulty blood circulation, alcohol or other drug use, trauma, and immersion can cause hypothermia.
Remember, cold may affect the body systems slowly and almost without notice.
Anyone exposed to low temperatures for extended periods may suffer ill effects even if they are well protected by clothing.
Signs and Symptoms
As the body cools, there are several stages of progressive discomfort and impairment. A sign that is noticed immediately is shivering.
Shivering is an attempt by the body to generate heat and the pulse is faint or very difficult to detect.
People with temperatures around 90°F may be drowsy and mentally slow.
Their ability to move may be hampered, stiff, and uncoordinated, but they may be able to
function minimally.
Their speech may be slurred.
As the body temperature drops further, shock becomes evident as the person’s eyes assume a glassy state, breathing becomes slow and shallow, and the pulse becomes weaker or absent.
The person becomes very stiff and uncoordinated.
Unconsciousness may follow quickly.
As the body temperature drops even lower, the extremities freeze, and a deep (or core) body temperature (below 85°F) increases the risk of irregular heart action.
This irregular heart action or heart standstill can result in sudden death.
First Aid Measures
Except in cases of the most severe hypothermia (marked by coma or unconsciousness and a weak pulse), first aid measures for hypothermia are directed towards protecting the casualty from further loss of body heat.
For the casualty who is conscious, first aid measures are directed at rewarming the body evenly and without delay.
Provide heat by using a hot water bottle or field expedient or another person’s body heat (snuggling can save lives!!)
CAUTION
When using a hot water bottle or field expedient (canteen filled with warm water), the bottle or canteen must be wrapped in cloth prior to placing it next to the casualty.
This will reduce the chance of burning the casualty’s skin.
Always call or send for help as soon as possible and protect the casualty immediately with dry clothing or a sleeping bag.
Then, move him to a warm place.
In the case of an accidental breakthrough into ice water, or other hypothermic accident, strip the casualty of wet clothing immediately and bundle them into a sleeping bag.
Rescue breathing should be started at once if the casualty’s breathing has stopped or is irregular or shallow.
Warm liquids (NOT HOT) may be given gradually if the casualty is conscious.
DO NOT force liquids on an unconscious or semiconscious casualty because they may choke.
The casualty should be transported on a stretcher because the exertion of walking may aggravate circulation problems.
Hypothermia is life threatening until normal body temperature has been restored.
The first aid measures for a casualty with severe hypothermia are based upon the following principles: attempt to avoid further heat loss, handle the casualty gently, and transport the casualty as soon as possible to the nearest medical facilty.
If at all possible, the casualty should be evacuated by medical personnel.
WARNING
Rewarming a severely hypothermic casualty is extremely dangerous in the field due to the possibility of such complications as rewarming, shock and disturbances in the rhythm of the heartbeat.
These conditions require treatment by medical personnel.
NOTE
Resuscitation of casualties with hypothermic complications is
difficult if not impossible to do outside of an Hospital setting.
CAUTION
The casualty is unable to generate their own body heat.
Therefore, merely placing them in a blanket or sleeping bag is not sufficient (if you put them in a sleep bag then put either a hot water bottle in with them of climb in yourself and huddle together to share body heat).