★☆☆Slow and Gentle Are Best in Treating Hypothermia

Read and understand the article. If you may have any difficult words to pronounce and words you cannot understand, always ask your teacher.

*Teachers will divide the article into 2-3 paragraphs to help you understand and check the pronunciation of the difficult words.

Vocabulary

*Read the words carefully.

1. hypothermia /ˌhīpəˈTHərmēə/ (n.) the condition of having an abnormally low body temperature, typically one that is dangerously low
2. uncontrollable /ˌənkənˈtrōləbəl/ (adj.) not able to be controlled
3. shiver /ˈSHivər/ (vb.) shake slightly and uncontrollably as a result of being cold, frightened, or excited
4. pulse /pəls/ (n.) the regular movement of blood through your body that is caused by the beating of your heart and that can be felt by touching certain parts of your body
5. bump into /bəmp-ˈinto͞o/ (phrasal vb.) to hit something, such as part of your body against an object in a sudden and forceful way; to meet someone by chance or to see and usually talk to someone you did not expect to see

Article

Slow and Gentle Are Best in Treating Hypothermia

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(1) Last week, we talked about ways to avoid cold-weather injuries. This week, we are going to talk about emergency treatment of hypothermia.

(2) Hypothermia can be mild, moderate or severe. Mild hypothermia is something that most people have experienced if they live in cold climates. You feel so cold that your body starts to shake — not very much, but uncontrollably.

(3) The treatment for mild hypothermia starts with getting out of the cold and, if necessary, changing into dry clothes. Drinking warm, non-alcoholic liquids and eating something sugary can stop the shivering.

(4) Taking a warm bath or sitting by a fire or doing some exercise can also help the body warm up. These are all common sense treatments.

(5) But treatment needs change when people enter the moderate or severe stages of hypothermia. In that situation, their body temperature drops below 35 degrees Celsius. They lose the ability to think clearly. Their muscles become stiff. They might bump into things or fall over objects.

(6) We got advice from a park ranger experienced in search-and-rescue for the National Park Service. She explained that rescuers will first try to prevent additional heat loss. They will place extra covering around the chest, head and neck of hypothermia victims to keep them warm.

(7) It is important to work fast to get people out of the cold. Hypothermia victims need medical help as soon as possible. But it is equally important to move them slowly and gently.

(8) Any rough or sudden movement can force cold blood from the arms, legs and hands deep into the warmer middle of the body. The sudden flow of cold blood can create shock, a serious condition. It can also cause a dangerously abnormal heartbeat.

(9) The process of “rewarming” a person needs to be done slowly, in a hospital setting. Members of search-and-rescue teams have a saying, that victims are not dead until they are warm and dead.

(10) An extremely low body temperature can cause the heart to beat so slowly that a pulse may be difficult to find. In other words, a person who is suffering from the effects of severe cold may seem dead, but still be alive.

Discussion

*Let’s talk about the article base on the questions below

1. What are all the things you do to keep yourself warm?
2. What do you usually do during the holidays? Do you travel, study or just stay at home?
3. Which do you prefer, a cold or warm environment? Choose one and please explain your answer.

 

English Compositions

*Let’s make English compositions using the words from the article.

(1) shiver

EX) Drinking warm, non-alcoholic liquids and eating something sugary can stop the shivering.

(2) bump into

EX) They might bump into things or fall over objects.