Hypothermia, Frostbite, and Other Cold Injuries : Prevention, Recognition and Pre-Hospital Treatment

Hikers, skiers, climbers, hunters, fishermen, bicyclists, and lost children-all are potentially at risk of hypothermia or other cold injuries including frostbite and trenchfoot. Cold water immersion is also a major cause of death in boating accidents. Yet as shown in anecdotes from the updated second edition of "Hypothermia, Frostbite, and Other Cold Injuries", many people have died unnecessarily, succumbing to cold effects long before hypothermia sets in: This compact, comprehensive book covers the causes and effects of hypothermia and other cold injuries, and tells how to prevent, recognize, and treat them. The new second edition includes expanded coverage of how the body loses heat and the latest rewarming techniques such as thermal wraps. There are new chapters on cold water drowning and covering additional cold injuries from Raynaud's phenomenon to cold-induced asthma. Other new chapters present strategies for cold weather survival, plus safe practices for working on the ice and ice water escape and rescue techniques.

Writing for outdoor enthusiasts and attendant emergency medical personnel, the authors (two medical doctors and a biologist) explain the stages of physiological deterioration of the human body as its core temperature decreases. They discuss recognizing hypothermia (not always easy) and procedures for rewarming. They deal less fully with frostbite and other cold injuries. The book is comparable to Robert S. Pozos and David O. Born's Hypothermia: causes, effects, prevention (New Century, 1982), although there are slight differences in treatment protocols. Illustrations are too few and no index was seen. Recommended for those who want a readable treatise on cold injuries and who do not have Pozos and Born's book. Robert Jordan, Iowa Testing Programs, Univ. of Iowa, Iowa City
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.