walkswithblackflies
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Post by walkswithblackflies on Mar 8, 2016 6:02:19 GMT -8
Be careful out there folks. Not just for you, but for those who risk their lives to keep you safe:
MacNaughton Mountain, NY – An avid 61-year-old hiker died on the western slopes of MacNaughton Mountain in the Adirondacks Saturday and the forest rangers sent to find her had to be rescued from the back country.
New York State Forest Rangers and State Police began searching for her Saturday when she did not return to her hiking party the night before, Acting DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos said Monday in a news release. After searching most of the day through the snow, rescuers found Davis' body on the western slopes of the mountain.
Rescuers had completed the mission and were hiking out of the difficult back country terrain when a forest ranger carrying a 50-pound pack fell through the ice of a brook and was submerged chest deep in water, Seggos said.
Fellow rangers quickly pulled their colleague from the water, changed his clothes and stabilized his core temperature.
With temperatures in the lower 20s, and their colleague facing the potential of frostbite and hypothermia, the rangers requested an emergency extraction.
Using night vision goggles, state police and rangers performed a nighttime rescue operation.
All of the rangers were then taken to the Lake Placid Airport. The ranger who had fallen through the ice was determine to be in stable condition and after warming up was sent back into service.
www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2016/03/adirondak_hiker_dies_on_macnaughton_mt.html#incart_m-rpt-1
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toejam
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Post by toejam on Mar 8, 2016 13:37:26 GMT -8
What do you think "stabilized his core temperature" means?
Things I've read beg the question.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 8, 2016 14:45:50 GMT -8
Shows once again how putting your own life in danger can sometimes put rescuers' lives in danger. Thanks for the link.
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echo
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Post by echo on Mar 8, 2016 16:10:15 GMT -8
I found this toejam 4. FURTHER MANAGEMENT a. Handle the patient very gently to avoid cardiac arrest. b. INSULATE from further heat loss; this is one of the primary goals for rescuers in treating severe hypothermia. Do not expose the patient's skin to cold air, wind or spray, especially the down-wash created by helicopter rotor blades. If patients need helicopter transportation, GENTLY wrap them in blankets, sleeping bags, etc., and also be sure to insulate their heads. c. Add heat; the intent is not to rewarm the patient, but rather to stabilize the core temperature and prevent further heat loss. Useful methods of heat addition are, in order of importance: i) Deliver heated, humidified oxygen or air by mask at a temperature of 110°F/45°C. This treatment will prevent further respiratory heat loss which is significant in hypothermia and will help to stabilize heart, lung and brain temperatures. ii) Apply external heat (hot packs, heating pads, etc.) to the head, neck, trunk and groin, but only in conjunction with inhalation therapy, defending the core temperature. These sources of external heat MUST be insulated from direct contact with the patient's skin, in order to prevent thermal burns. Hypothermic skin is very sensitive to heat and is easily burned. iii) Provide rescuer's body heat. When wrapped together in a blanket or sleeping bag, a rescuer can donate body heat to a hypothermic patient. This technique is not without risk however, since slow external rewarming in this way may aggravate the frequency of abnormal heart beats. It should only be used when there will be a long delay in transporting the patient to a site of complete medical care. IN NO CASE SHOULD HOT SHOWERS OR BATHS BE USED WHEN THE PATIENT'S CHANGES OF BLOOD CHEMISTRY CANNOT BE MONITORED AND BALANCED. d. Postpone orally administered treatment; give nothing by mouth until the patient is considered sufficiently conscious to both cough and swallow (i.e. fully conscious). Hot drinks are not effective in warming a severely hypothermic victim. They may be useful, however, in raising the morale of mildly hypothermic victims. NEVER ADMINISTER ALCOHOL ! e. Administer intravenous (IV) fluids: if a blood vessel can be found, despite vaso constriction, administer already warmed to body temperature 5% dextrose in water or 5% dextrose in normal saline. Do not use Ringer's lactate because the hypothermic liver may not be able to metabolize the lactate normally. Most hypothermic patients are dehydrated, administer 300-500 cc's of dextrose in water or saline rapidly, followed by 75-100 cc/hr. DO NOT ADMINISTER COLD I.V. FLUIDS. Use an I.V. warmer or carry a plastic I.V. bottle inside a rescuers clothing (preferably next to the skin) to keep the fluids warm. f. Transport to a medical facility as soon as possible.
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echo
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Post by echo on Mar 8, 2016 16:11:10 GMT -8
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toejam
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Post by toejam on Mar 8, 2016 18:31:18 GMT -8
Provide rescuer's body heat. When wrapped together in a blanket or sleeping bag, a rescuer can donate body heat to a hypothermic patient. This technique is not without risk however, since slow external rewarming in this way may aggravate the frequency of abnormal heart beats. This is what I was thinking of. Getting stripped and shoved in a sleeping bag with a naked ranger would give me abnormal heart beats.
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Mar 8, 2016 20:26:11 GMT -8
Depends on the ranger But seriously, that's great info, Echo. Thanks for sharing the links.
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walkswithblackflies
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Post by walkswithblackflies on Mar 9, 2016 5:40:36 GMT -8
What do you think "stabilized his core temperature" means? Depends on how cold he was. Could have meant fire and huddling in a bag, or just a cup of warm soup. I've been chest-deep in meltwater before. It was planned, so I stripped down before hand, and had a towel and clothes ready in the top of my bag. I got out, dried off, put my clothes on, did a few squats, and I was ready to carry on. Being in for a short time isn't horrible (after the initial gut-punch cold). Obviously, things get worse with increased duration. Being unplanned, things were probably a bit more hectic after the ranger's extraction. But the article states they did have extra clothes, and after stripping the wet ones off he shouldn't have been too bad off. The fact that they called for an emergency extraction, however, would lead me to believe the extra clothes they had were not sufficient for the weather (temperature). For example... they probably didn't have another parka. Hence, the emergency call. Totally my conjecture though.
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balzaccom
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Post by balzaccom on Mar 9, 2016 10:10:28 GMT -8
What do you think "stabilized his core temperature" means? Depends on how cold he was. Could have meant fire and huddling in a bag, or just a cup of warm soup. From what I have read, the physics of adding one cup of warm soup to a hypothermic human body has very little impact at all. A 200 pound human is about 25 gallons (or 400 cups) of thermal mass. One cup ain't going to change that much. I'm not really picking a fight here---but I also don't want people to get the idea that a cup of a hot beverage is an any way a good solution for even moderate hypothermia...
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Post by Lamebeaver on Mar 9, 2016 10:18:59 GMT -8
I suppose if you're going to fall through the ice, being surrounded by SAR professionals would be the best time to do it.
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walkswithblackflies
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Post by walkswithblackflies on Mar 9, 2016 11:05:19 GMT -8
From what I have read, the physics of adding one cup of warm soup to a hypothermic human body has very little impact at all. A 200 pound human is about 25 gallons (or 400 cups) of thermal mass. One cup ain't going to change that much. I'm not really picking a fight here---but I also don't want people to get the idea that a cup of a hot beverage is an any way a good solution for even moderate hypothermia... Hence the "depends on how cold he was". Drinking warm fluids is a vetted method for stabilizing core temperatures in those with mild hypothermia.
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walkswithblackflies
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Post by walkswithblackflies on Mar 9, 2016 11:07:31 GMT -8
I suppose if you're going to fall through the ice, being surrounded by SAR professionals would be the best time to do it. I've asked one of the local newspaper editors to write a story about the rescue of the ranger. Not only dramatic, but would show what the professionals did in that situation.
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Post by High Sierra Fan on Mar 9, 2016 11:13:06 GMT -8
Depends on how cold he was. Could have meant fire and huddling in a bag, or just a cup of warm soup. From what I have read, the physics of adding one cup of warm soup to a hypothermic human body has very little impact at all. A 200 pound human is about 25 gallons (or 400 cups) of thermal mass. One cup ain't going to change that much. I'm not really picking a fight here---but I also don't want people to get the idea that a cup of a hot beverage is an any way a good solution for even moderate hypothermia...
Though the article doesn't state the ranger was suffering from hypothermia of any level, just the potential for that etc. a quick dunk as appears to be the case (a ranger surrounded by other fit wilderness professionals is going to extracted from the water very fast) and your chilled not hypothermic. Warm drinks, dry clothing, some exercise, protection from the weather, all can contribute to warding off the start of hypothermia versus staying in those soaked clothes while they freeze solid drawing all your body heat out into the forming ice. As shown by endless youtubes of various Scandinavians jumping naked into ice covered lakes post sauna.... My guess is the main lack wouldn't have been clothing, parkas etc. but rather boots: his footwear: totally and irrecoverably frozen solid and spare clothing will abound in a group: spare winter boots notsomuch. Let alone spare winter boots that are the right size....
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walkswithblackflies
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Post by walkswithblackflies on Mar 9, 2016 11:47:59 GMT -8
Yeah... didn't think about boots. Good catch.
I always bring a sleeping bag and change of clothes with me on winter hikes. I think I'll start bringing my down booties on all winter hikes as well.
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amaruq
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Post by amaruq on Mar 10, 2016 8:58:00 GMT -8
As a kid I plunged through the ice a number of times. Thankfully, not miles from the nearest change of clothing and shelter. And I've always enjoyed the annual dip in the near-frozen waters found in a hole in the ice back home, but haven't been to one of those events in ages. This was the last time I ended up in frigid waters; I had first-aid personnel close by too. Antarctic Peninsula
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