Potential death from hypothermia

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The situation is, my character is trapped in a crashed car. She has suffered a broken arm in the crash. It's after 11pm at night and outside of a town (so no mobile phone signal). It's also the middle of winter, with snow on the ground and the air temperature about minus 6 Celsius, which the south of England did drop down to during some the hard winters in the last few years. It can be windy.

The question is, if she isn't rescued, how quickly would she be in danger of death from hypothermia?

And if she is rescued and taken to hospital, how long would she likely need to stay there before being able to go home?

Thanks in anticipation!
 

Haggis

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The situation is, my character is trapped in a crashed car. She has suffered a broken arm in the crash. It's after 11pm at night and outside of a town (so no mobile phone signal). It's also the middle of winter, with snow on the ground and the air temperature about minus 6 Celsius, which the south of England did drop down to during some the hard winters in the last few years. It can be windy.

The question is, if she isn't rescued, how quickly would she be in danger of death from hypothermia?

And if she is rescued and taken to hospital, how long would she likely need to stay there before being able to go home?

Thanks in anticipation!

Can't answer all of your questions, but I'd suggest you read a short story by Jack London called To Build a Fire. Google it. It's public domain now and free on line.
 

wendymarlowe

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Depends on several factors:

- how warmly is she dressed?
- does she have a blanket or something with her in the car?
- is she over- or under-weight?
- is she generally healthy?
- is the car on the top of a windy cliff, half-buried by snow, down in a sheltered ravine, sinking in a river, etc?
- is the air in the car dry or wet?
 

eyeblink

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Depends on several factors:

- how warmly is she dressed?

Coat and two layers above the waist, thick skirt and tights, ankle boots, plus underwear. She was going home after an evening out when the crash happened.

- does she have a blanket or something with her in the car?

No, and as she's trapped in the front passenger seat she wouldn't be able to get it if she had one. So she only has the clothes she's currently wearing.

- is she over- or under-weight?

A little overweight, but not significantly so, given her size/build (5'10" mesomorph). She's seventeen, by the way - this is a YA novel.

- is she generally healthy?

Yes.

- is the car on the top of a windy cliff, half-buried by snow, down in a sheltered ravine, sinking in a river, etc?


Run into a wall on a country road in southern England. There is snow on the grass verges (probably about ankle depth) though the road itself is clear and it's about -6C outside, which is possible for a hard southern English winter. (It reached that at least a couple of times in the last few years.)

- is the air in the car dry or wet?

Dry, I guess, though if needs be it could be snowing. It could be windy.

Thanks!
 

BDSEmpire

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Hopefully she'll stay in the car which will cut her wind and environmental exposure down to hardly anything. Assuming the shell of the car is intact (the windshield could crack but not shatter) then her waste heat will warm it up pretty effectively. Wrapping up in blankets and such will keep her cozy till dawn.

Or, she could make the classic error that lots of dead people make and leave the car to go and try to find help. Dun dun DUN. Welcome to hypothermia land.

There was a chilling radio show I heard where they read from "Last Breath: Cautionary Tales from the Limits of Human Endurance". The first reading was about hypothermia. http://catdir.loc.gov/catdir/samples/random045/2001037553.html

I've pulled a clip from the radio show if you want to hear it. It's great stuff though spooky: click for 16MB MP3
 

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Hypothermia begins when the body's metabolism is unable to produce internal heat to compensate for the loss to external cold. It can be very subtle, but at some point becomes difficult to reverse. It can also happen at surprisingly warm temperatures, under certain conditions. I recall a story, some years ago, about marine recruits who died from hypothermia after being subjected to prolonged wet conditions in temperatures of around 60º F.

As for -6º C, that computes to about +20º F, which is a nice comfy winter daytime temperature where I live (southern Alaska). We'd be happy to see that daytime high, most days, from December through February. And ankle-deep snow won't stop anybody here.

You want hypothermia death stories in the U.K., look up some incidents in the Scottish highlands.

caw
 

SophieB

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Her hospital time would depend on what injuries, if any, she suffered while stranded. If all her vitals were normal and she had no sign of frostbite or dehydration, in theory they might send her home very quickly. Realistically, though, in the US she'd at least be given a bag of fluid and "observed" for several hours before discharge.
Even simple frostbite can require debriding, IV drugs, amputation, skin grafts, etcetera, most of which will take place MONTHS later. It takes a very long time to truly assess the extent of the damage. In medicine, the usual wisdom is "frostbite in January, amputate in July".
 

GeorgeK

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Or, she could make the classic error that lots of dead people make and leave the car to go and try to find help. Dun dun DUN. Welcome to hypothermia land.
Loved the sound effects.
 

boron

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So, I assume she can't keep the car engine running and use a heater...Id's say the temperature in the car would drop below zero in few hours, not to minus 6, though. She would very likely survive until the morning and probably be conscious. If she has enough space, she could make fast leg movements, like pressing on the pedals...it helps a lot. You can produce quite some heat this way, but you have to be persistent. Shivering also helps a lot. You can shiver actively — you just get into "resonance" with shivering and contribute...

The broken arm, the hand first, would start to get cold. Her feet would become cold, stiff, toes would become numb and painful. Death until the morning would be unrealistic. She could then survive the whole next day. The problem would start when she would give up and fall asleep - after this, she could still have several hours. The normal body temperature is about 37 °C. Mild hypothermia is at 35 °C. The table in this article says you can die at the body temperature about 25 °C...

Without a complicated fracture, trench foot or frostbite...reheating, X-ray of the arm, a plaster...all this can be done in several hours.
 

Paint it Pink

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I remember once cycling on a tandem with my partner at the time on a cold November day. We were fine while cycling, but got first stage hypothermia from getting off the tandem and walking to the front door of our apartment.

Remedied by snuggling under the duvet cover for about an hour to warm up and stop shivering.
 

BrightSera

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You have to factor in the broken arm. Is it a fracture of one of the bones bonesin the lower arm? Both? The thick bone in the upper arm (which would mean major trauma.) If she even goes into mild shock because of her injuries it speeds up the process of hypothermia. The metabolic back and forth to keep our body temperature constant works beautifully but can be can be easily interrupted if any of those checks and balances are diverted towards maintaining something else.
 

eyeblink

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You have to factor in the broken arm. Is it a fracture of one of the bones bonesin the lower arm? Both? The thick bone in the upper arm (which would mean major trauma.) If she even goes into mild shock because of her injuries it speeds up the process of hypothermia. The metabolic back and forth to keep our body temperature constant works beautifully but can be can be easily interrupted if any of those checks and balances are diverted towards maintaining something else.

It'll be the lower arm (I was trying to work out the angle of impact :)) and she would be in some kind of shock.

The point of the scene is that she may be in less danger than she thinks she is...and she goes to pieces as a result. It's a scene that's three quarters of the way through my WIP and is pivotal in driving the character relationships and storyline of the last quarter.

Thanks, everyone - that's been very useful.