title: A Survey of Accidental Hypothermia Knowledge among Navy Members in China and the Implications for Training.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Accidental hypothermia (AH) is a potentially life-threatening condition that can lead to significant morbidity and life-long effects. Navy personnel are always at a greater risk of AH due to frequent outdoor work, wilderness exposure, prolonged immobility and exhaustion. The purpose of the survey was to assess Chinese Navy members' awareness of AH and to make recommendations with regard to better measures for improving it.
  
  
  METHODS
  111 Navy members completed a written questionnaire that was subsequently analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  30.6% of the respondents have experienced AH and 64.9% rated their knowledge of AH as "low" or "none". Over half of them identified the initial symptom of AH as obvious shivering (69.4%) and apathy (45.0%). As for the aggravate symptoms, 60.9% chose the wrong answer of more obvious shivering instead of the right one-absence of shivering (5.4%). In the case of the treatment of mild AH, more than half of the respondents chose the wrong answers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study suggests that the basic skills of recognition and treatment of AH are inadequate in the Chinese Navy. Further work is required to develop a systematical, comprehensive and corresponding education method that would promote correct actions during AH.
authors.affiliation: Emergency Nursing Department, School of Nursing, 2nd Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China. shiny0820@foxmail.com.
authors.forename: Shuang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Emergency Nursing Department, School of Nursing, 2nd Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China. qiuchenqiuying@163.com.
authors.forename: Chen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.affiliation: Emergency Nursing Department, School of Nursing, 2nd Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China. xiaowenz@126.com.
authors.forename: Wenwen
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Emergency Nursing Department, School of Nursing, 2nd Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China. yan8811@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Emergency Nursing Department, School of Nursing, 2nd Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China. guili2000@foxmail.com.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gui
mesh_terms: D000056:Accident Prevention / Q000379:methods*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002681:China; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007035:Hypothermia; D008297:Male; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000193:education*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: AH; China; Navy; accidental hypothermia; health survey