Hypothermia When to Come In out of the Snow

There is two foot of snow on the ground, and runny nosed children all over the place. I rounded up some of these kids, ages 7 to 9, and taught them the dangers of getting too cold while playing outside. I taught him the definition, cause, signs, and symptoms of hypothermia. I took them all a cup of hot chocolate and an educational flyer that I printed on recognizing hypothermia. The website I used to print and send home with them is lanakids.com. It is simple spoken and created for children. I also used information from hypothermia.org and from a professional journal from kidshealth.org.

I cleaned off the picnic table and put down some blankets to keep our bottoms warm and started by asking who was cold. Of course one kid had on knit gloves, a light jacket, and no hat. He said he was warm until we sat down. I told them appropriate dress out in the cold is layers of clothing. They should be wearing long underwear for the bottom layer, and a waterproof jacket on the outer layer, with some warm clothes in between. They should also be wearing warm socks, waterproof gloves and boots, and a warm hat or ski mask. When I told them to have a snack before going outside they said they didn’t have time, they already sound like adults, I never have time to eat. I explained that the extra calories will give them energy. Also sunscreen is important every day of the year. They can damage their skin even in the winter (kidshealth.com). I told them the signs and symptoms of hypothermia. They need to know how they will feel and what to watch for in their buddies. Some of the typical signs and symptoms are tight or stiff muscles, blurry vision, confusion, and sleepiness. Also if they are shivering and have to use the bathroom they could be getting too cold (lanakids.com). I explained that they don’t have to tell mom they have hypothermia every time they have to pee, but it is something to be aware of.

Hypothermia is when your body temperature drops below 95.0 degrees