Rose Walker (rosewalker) wrote in little_details,
Rose Walker
rosewalker
little_details

Treatment of Hypothermia

A female in her late twenties suffers hypothermia due to prolonged submersion in icy water (somewhere between 15-45 minutes). No pulse, no respiration, core temperature of about 28 degrees Celcius. She is brought to a hospital within minutes of heart/respiratory failure. What is the most likely treatment (that results in her surviving)? Googling has given me a lot of options from warm IV fluids to inhaling warm air to using warm saline bags around the body, but they all say "depending on the severity" and I'm not sure what order everything would happen in. Is it correct that she would need to be warmed up at least a little before they could restart her heart? How long would the entire process take, from first getting her to the hospital until she could be resuscitated & then stabilized? How long would she be in the hospital thereafter, and what sort of long and/or short-term after-effects might there be for her health? Any & all details will be appreciated. :)

ETA: I didn't want to prolong my questions with a lot of plot points, but she is actually submerged in icy water *in* a hospital (long story) so there are no EMTs or ambulances involved - as soon as her heart stops, the person she's with carries her to the ER (who were previously warned that a hypothermia victim would be brought in).
Tags: ~medicine: hypothermia
Subscribe

  • Post a new comment

    Error

    switch
    default userpic
    When you submit the form an invisible reCAPTCHA check will be performed.
    You must follow the Privacy Policy and Google Terms of use.
    Help
  • 5 comments