The #2 Cause of Hiking&Climbing Deaths is… and how to avoid it
Can you guess it? Before I give you the answer, consider a very serious finding from ScientificBlogging.com concluding that by far, the most [tag-tec]climbing[/tag-tec] deaths on [tag-tec]Everest[/tag-tec] occured during the descent. That’s understandable, isn’t it? After all, descending is often more technical, you are more tired and tend to be more careless than on the way up…
“Wait a sec, what’s the no. 1 cause?” The primary mortal cause on the world’s highest peak among [tag-tec]mountain guides[/tag-tec], [tag-tec]climbers[/tag-tec] and sherpas is caused by symptoms such as confusion, loss of physical coordination and unconsciousness… all of which can be associated with cerebral edema. Cerebral edema is the scary consequence of the brain’s blood vessels leaking, resulting in the swelling of the brain.
The scientist gals and dudes who prepared this study were surprised to find that pulmonary edema – which is getting excessive fluid in the lungs – has been pretty rare.
OK, so many of you will never deal with the really high altitude stuff- that is, “death zone” climbing – or over 8000 meter climbing, so cerebral edema only leads deaths on high mountain expeditions. So, on to the number 2 cause of death on mountaineering, hiking and trekking excursions… Which is: [tag-tec]hypothermia[/tag-tec]. Hypothermia occurs, basically, when your body temp drops to around 32 deg. Centigrade, or just below 90 deg. Fahrenheit.
In this state, you do not yet freeze, but will experience cognitive deficiencies – loss of coordination, speech disfunctioning, illusions-seeing things etc. People have been reported getting rid of all their equipment and clothing when entering severe stages of hypothermia. Often, corpses found in the wilderness are actually discovered bare naked.
What to do and what not to do, when the danger of hypothermia sets in…
Do:
- make every effort to make a fire and warm up
- put the “patient” in two-three sleeping bags, unclothed
- have someone huddle with the person in a sleeping bag (almost unclothed), providing more body heat for the poor victim
- always carry an emergency foil blanket and wrap it around the body. The closer to the skin, the better.
- get rid of wet clothes, as they further heat the body. The moisture may come from sweat as well, not just snow or rain.
Do not:
- have the victim “move around” if hypothermia developed from spending lots of time in very cold water. In cold water, only the outer body will have been cooled out considerably, while the inner body may have conserved adequate amounts of heat. If the victim starts to move around, then the blood will carry all the cold around the organs and the heart, resulting possibly, in sudden death.
Needless to say, you should make every effort to get the victim in a hospital.
Tags: climbers, death zone, high altitude, Hypothermia, mountain, mountain travel, mountaineering, Trekking