What are the treatment steps for hypothermia with a body temperature of 96.8 F?

From the Guidelines

For a body temperature of 96.8°F, which is considered mild hypothermia, treatment involves passive external rewarming techniques, as this level of hypothermia is not severe and the body can still generate heat on its own 1.

Key Steps in Treatment

• Move the person to a warm, dry environment to prevent further heat loss.
• Remove any wet clothing, as it can significantly increase heat loss, and replace with dry clothes or blankets.
• Focus on covering the head, neck, chest, and groin areas where heat loss is greatest.
• Provide warm, sweet, non-alcoholic beverages if the person is conscious and able to swallow.
• Apply warm compresses to the chest, neck, and groin to help increase blood flow and warmth to these areas.
• Skin-to-skin contact under loose, dry layers of blankets can also help transfer body heat.

Important Considerations

• Avoid active rewarming methods like hot baths or heating pads, as these can cause burns or trigger cardiac arrhythmias.
• Monitor the person's temperature closely and watch for signs of improvement.
• If symptoms worsen or the temperature continues to drop, seek immediate medical attention as more aggressive interventions may be needed.

Rationale

The approach to treating mild hypothermia prioritizes passive rewarming due to its effectiveness and the lower risk of complications compared to active rewarming methods 1. This method allows the body to naturally rewarm itself, which is often sufficient for mild cases. The most recent guidelines support this approach, emphasizing the importance of preventing further heat loss and utilizing passive rewarming techniques as the first line of treatment for mild hypothermia 1.

From the Research

Hypothermia Treatment Steps

The treatment steps for hypothermia with a body temperature of 96.8 F are as follows:

• Diagnosis and treatment of hypothermia should always be confirmed and based on core body temperature via a low-reading thermometer instead of clinical presentation alone 2
• Passive and active external and internal rewarming can be utilized to treat hypothermia, including the removal of wet clothing, forced air patient warming system, warm blankets, and warm lactated ringers given intravenously 2
• Active external rewarming interventions include chemical, electrical and charcoal-burning heat packs; chemical or electrical heated blankets; and forced air warming 3
• All intravenous fluids must be reliably warmed before infusion 3

Treatment Considerations

• The most effective insulation systems combined insulation with a vapor barrier 3
• Mildly hypothermic patients, with significant endogenous heat production from shivering, will likely be able to rewarm themselves with only insulation and a vapor barrier, although active warming will still provide comfort and an energy-saving benefit 3
• For colder, non-shivering patients, the addition of active warming is indicated as a non-shivering patient will not rewarm spontaneously 3
• Warmed intravenous fluids can keep the core temperature of study participants about half a degree warmer than that of participants given room temperature intravenous fluids 4

Severe Hypothermia Treatment

• Extracorporeal methods, such as venovenous haemofiltration, can be used safely for core rewarming in severely hypothermic patients when other conventional methods have failed 5
• Active fluid warming (AFW) has a larger measurable beneficial effect for patients with more severe hypothermia, but true rewarming of the patient with AFW alone would require prohibitively large fluid volumes or dangerously hot fluid 6