title: Apparent Cooling Rate of 7°C per Hour in an Avalanche Victim.
abstract: Avalanche victims can become hypothermic within 35 minutes of snow burial. However, reported cooling rates for avalanche victims are highly variable and it is poorly understood how much cooling is influenced by general factors (body composition, clothing, ambient conditions, duration of burial, and metabolism), unknown inter-individual factors or other phenomena (e.g., afterdrop). We report an apparent cooling rate of ∼7°C in ∼60 minutes in a healthy backcountry skier who was rewarmed with forced air and warm fluids and was discharged after 2 weeks without neurological sequelae.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of General and Surgical Critical Care Medicine, Innsbruck Medical University , Innsbruck, Austria .
authors.forename: Mathias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ströhle
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Innsbruck Medical University , Innsbruck, Austria .
authors.forename: Gabriel
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Putzer
authors.affiliation: 3 EURAC Institute of Mountain Emergency Medicine , Bolzano, Italy .
authors.forename: Emily
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Procter
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Innsbruck Medical University , Innsbruck, Austria .
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Paal
mesh_terms: D055875:Avalanches; D001833:Body Temperature Regulation / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007035:Hypothermia / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000628:therapy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017694:Rewarming / Q000379:methods; D012307:Risk Factors; D012865:Skiing; D012914:Snow; D013997:Time Factors
keywords: afterdrop; altitude; avalanche; hypothermia, accidental; immersion; rewarming