---
title: "3 Warning Signs for Hypothermia"
description: "As the weather cools and we get outside more for hunting, hiking and camping, we need to stay keenly aware of one of the biggest threats to outdoor enthusiasts: hypothermia. This is a commonly occurring medical condition that involves the body’s core temperature dropping below 95 F. This can be caused by exposure to water, wind, very cold air, or a combination of these elements. Be alert to the following signs in yourself and others, and catch hypothermia early—while it is still field-treatable."
date: "2015-10-08"
modified: "2021-04-20"
authors:
  - name: "Tim MacWelch"
    link: "https://www.outdoorlife.com/authors/tim-macwelch/"
url: "https://www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/survivalist/3-warning-signs-hypothermia/"
categories:
  - "Survival"
  - "Survival Skills"
---

# 3 Warning Signs for Hypothermia

![](<https://www.outdoorlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/22/TH4KDRZVLGVSJP6HAFBXFQDLYM.jpg>)
*Outdoor Life Online Editor*

As the weather cools and we get outside more for hunting, hiking and camping, we need to stay keenly aware of one of the biggest threats to outdoor enthusiasts: hypothermia. This is a commonly occurring medical condition that involves the body’s core temperature dropping below 95 F. This can be caused by exposure to water, wind, very cold air, or a combination of these elements. Be alert to the following signs in yourself and others, and catch hypothermia early—while it is still field-treatable.

**SPOT THE SIGNS**

**1.Mild Hypothermia** can consist of shivering, confusion, slurred speech, or numbness or tingling in the skin. Sluggish muscles are a good indicator of a cold body, and they give you a clue before shivering begins.

**2. Moderate Hypothermia** can manifest as violent shivering, clumsiness, lack of coordination, pale skin, or blue colored lips, ears, fingers and toes.

**3. Severe Hypothermia** can consist of difficulty speaking, trouble walking or moving, amnesia, extreme tiredness, irrational behavior like clothing removal and burrowing into snow, sand, or other loose material.

**TAKE A BITE OUT OF THE COLD**
Rewarming someone is the main method of treatment for hypothermia victims. Use one of these methods, or a combination of techniques, based on the severity of the victim's cold exposure.

Passive external rewarming involves the use of a person's own heat generating ability. You can get them out of their wet clothes, and into some properly insulated dry clothing and a warm environment. Give a little high calorie food and warm sips of a hot beverage if the hypothermia is mild.

Active external rewarming involves applying warming devices externally such as a hot water bottle in both armpits. Never use hot baths to treat a hypothermic person, as it can cause a heart attack.

Have you ever been in the grips of hypothermia? What have you done to fight it? Tell us your story by leaving a comment.