Hypothermia primary prevention
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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [2]
Overview
Primary Prevention
In air, most heat is lost through the head (one third of the body's heat);[1] hypothermia can thus be most effectively prevented by covering the head. Having appropriate clothing for the environment is another important prevention. Fluid-retaining materials like cotton can be a hypothermia risk; if the wearer gets sweaty on a cold day, then cools down, they will have sweat-soaked clothing in the cold air. For outdoor exercise on a cold day, it is advisable to wear fabrics which can "wick" away sweat moisture. These include wool or synthetic fabrics designed specifically for rapid drying.
Heat is lost much faster in water. Children can die of hypothermia in as little as two hours in water as warm as 16°C (61°F, 289K), typical of sea surface temperatures in temperate countries such as Great Britain in early summer. Many seaside safety information sources fail to quote survival times in water, and the consequent importance of diving suits. This is possibly because the original research into hypothermia mortality in water was carried out in wartime Germany on unwilling subjects. There is ongoing debate as to the ethical basis of using the data thus acquired.