 |
Test your survival knowledge with a simple exam”, by Melinda Allan, from The Register-Guard, February
18, 1987, Eugene, Oregon, page 5D, the article can be found HERE
To
read “Test Your Survival Knowledge, Part One” go HERE,
and to read “Test Your Survival Knowledge, Part Two” go HERE –
Author’s note
I
bet you couldn’t wait for the last of the answers to the questions posed to us
by Melinda Allan, in her article “Test your survival knowledge with a simple
exam”? I know I couldn’t, so let’s dive
into the answers to questions five and six!
 |
Question five from “Test your survival knowledge with a simple exam”, by Melinda Allan, The Register-Guard, February 18, 1987, Eugene, Oregon, page 5D
In
this question Ms. Allan is asking how long you would survive “Waterchill”,
which is the increased cooling that you will experience if you are immersed in
water or a wearing wet clothes: your rate of cooling, when wet, can be many
times faster than that of when you are dry.
The answer to this question, according Melinda Allan, is “B”.
 |
Answer five from “Test your survival knowledge with a
simple exam”, by Melinda Allan, The Register-Guard, February 18, 1987, Eugene,
Oregon, page 5D
To
answer this question, I consulted the book Wilderness Survival, which if
you are interested in survival and outdoors topics, is a must read and here is
what it had to say on the subject1.
 |
An excerpt from Wilderness Survival, Ministry of Forest, British Columbia, pages
47-48
Your
survival time depends on the temperature of the water and the graph predicts
that your survival time will be less than six hours, any time the water is less
than 60oF (15oC), however your survival time is increased
by extra body fat and is decreased by small body size.
 |
An excerpt from Wilderness Survival, Ministry of Forest, British Columbia, pages 51
 |
An excerpt from Wilderness Survival, Ministry of Forest, British Columbia, pages 50
Also,
you can increase your predicted survival time by up to 50% by using either of
these two techniques: H.E.L.P., or the Heat Escape Lessening Posture; or by huddling. These two techniques work because they reduce
the heat lost from the critical areas of the sides of your chest, where there
is little muscle or fat to act as insulation, your groin and neck, both of which
lose can lose heat quickly due to the large blood vessels which are close to
the surface there.
 |
Question six from “Test your survival knowledge with a
simple exam”, by Melinda Allan, The Register-Guard, February 18, 1987, Eugene,
Oregon, page 5D
 |
Photograph by the author. |
In
this question the author is asking you what to do when someone you are with has
become hypothermic, but to answer that question, which according Ms. Allan, is “D”,
you must know what hypothermia is, what the stages are and how to diagnose what
stage the person is in.
 |
Hypothermia is a condition where your body’s
core temperature decreases, and when this begins you need to watch for what
Matt Heid, the author of “Warning Signs of Hypothermia: Know Your “Umbles”,
calls the “umbles”; the fumbles, stumbles, mumbles and grumbles.
Mild hypothermia, which is when your core body
temperature drops below 98.6oF and begins to drift down to 95o
F (37oC descending to 35oC). The symptoms of mild hypothermia are intense,
but controllable shivering, cold and numb hands, or as Matt Heid says, “the
fumbles”.
Moderate hypothermia is when your core body
temperature falls below 95oF and descends towards 90oF
(35oC to 32oC) and its symptoms are uncontrollable
shivering, confusion and movements that become slow and labored, or what Matt
Heid calls, “the stumbles, mumbles and grumbles”.
Severe hypothermia begins when the person’s
core body temperature drops below 90oF (32oC). At this point the person becomes confused,
their muscles become rigid, and walking becomes impossible, their heart and
respiration rate both decreases, and they may become unconscious. If the person’s core body temperature continues
to decrease, they will go into cardiac arrest and likely die.
In the past, the best practice for treating
moderate to severe hypothermia was to put the hypothermic person inside a
sleeping bag and warm them up with direct skin-to-skin contact. However, according to author Rick Curtis, in “Hypothermia:
Field Assessment and Treatment”, as reprinted from The Backpacker's Field
Manual, the current best practice for treating moderate to severe
hypothermia is as follows:
“Make sure the patient is dry and has a
wicking inner layer next to the skin to minimize sweating. Use a plastic garbage bag as a diaper to prevent
urine from soaking the insulation layers.
The person must be protected from any moisture in the environment. Use
multiple sleeping bags, blankets, clothing, foam pads, etc. to create a minimum
of 4 inches (10 centimeters) of insulation all the way around the patient,
especially between the patient and the ground.
Use foam pads to insulate the person from the ground. Include an aluminum space blanket to help
prevent radiant heat loss if you have one.
Wrap the entire ensemble in something waterproof like a tarp or tent
rainfly to protect from wind and water.
Your patient will look like she is in a giant burrito with only her face
exposed.”2.
Additionally, Rick Curtis, says that even
though the hypothermic person’s stomach has shut down and therefore will not be
able to digest solid food, like a PowerBar®, it can still absorb dilute sugars
and water, and this will give the person the energy necessary to rewarm
themselves. Give the person a diluted
mix of warm water and sugar or Jello® every fifteen minutes, if they are
conscious and able to swallow. Do not
give the person alcohol, because it is a vasodilator and will increase heat
loss, or drinks containing caffeine, which is vasoconstrictor, that will increase
the chances of peripheral frostbite.
The best field test to assess if someone is
hypothermic, is to have the person walk 30 feet in a straight line, if they are
unable to walk that distance without weaving or stumbling, then they might be
hypothermic. Per Rick Curtis, in “Hypothermia:
Field Assessment and Treatment”, another way to assess if someone is
hypothermic is to ask them a question that requires higher thinking, such as
counting backwards from 100 by 9: if they are hypothermic, they won’t be able
to do it3.
This
is the end of the answers to the questions that Melinda Allan asked us, in her
article “Test your survival knowledge with a simple exam” and I hope that
enjoyed this survival quiz as much as I did and as always, until next time,
Happy Trails!
I hope that you continue to enjoy The Woodsman’s
Journal Online and look for me on YouTube at Bandanaman Productions for other
related videos, HERE.
Don’t forget to follow me on both The Woodsman’s Journal Online, HERE, and subscribe to BandanaMan
Productions on YouTube. If you have
questions, as always, feel free to leave a comment on either site. I announce new articles on Facebook at Eric
Reynolds, on Instagram at bandanamanaproductions, and on VK at Eric Reynolds,
so watch for me.
Notes
1
The Ministry of Forest, British Columbia’s
book Wilderness Survival, is a 151 page book which was first published
in 1976 and was originally given out free “With the Compliments of the Ministry
Of Recreation And Conservation, Recreation And Fitness Branch, Outdoor
Recreation Division”, today you can find one on sale by googling "wilderness
survival british columbia used book”, with the prices in U.S. dollars, varying
from as little as $3.51 to as much $145.00!
This excellent book has chapters on “Survival Psychology”,
“So You Are Lost” and “Building A Shelter”, to name a few.
2 Rick Curtis, “Hypothermia: Field Assessment
and Treatment”
3
Ibid.
Sources
Curtis, Rick; “Hypothermia:
Field Assessment and Treatment”, reprinted from The Backpacker's Field Manual [© 2015 Outdoor
Ed LLC], https://www.outdoored.com/articles/hypothermia-field-assessment-and-treatment, accessed September 18, 2020
Heid, Matt, “Warning Signs of Hypothermia:
Know Your “Umbles”, February 11, 2014, AMC Outdoors, [© 2020 Appalachian
Mountain Club], http://www.outdoors.org/articles/amc-outdoors/warning-signs-of-hypothermia-know-your/, accessed December 7, 2017
Ministry of Forest,
British Columbia; Wilderness Survival, Third Edition, [Province of British Columbia, Victoria,
B.C.; Third Edition, March 1978], p
45-51
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