France

Hypothermia

Name: Hypothermia
Published: 2026-07-26

Vérifié 2026-07-26

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Cette fiche n'est pas encore traduite, le texte ci-dessous est donc en anglais. Les numéros d'urgence et les mentions légales de cette page sont bien locaux.

Faites ceci tout de suite

Get the person out of the cold and wind, off the cold ground, out of wet clothes and into dry layers, head covered.

Hypothermia starts long before ice and snow. Wet clothes, wind and exhaustion can chill a body at ten degrees above zero. The trap is the brain: as the core cools, judgement fades first, so the victim rarely knows they are in trouble.

Étape par étape

Move the person somewhere dry and out of the wind, and put insulation between them and the ground. Cold ground steals heat faster than cold air.
Take off wet clothing, cut it off if needed, and wrap them in dry layers, blankets or a foil blanket, head and neck covered.
Call 112 for anyone who has stopped shivering, is confused, clumsy or drowsy. That is moderate hypothermia and it does not fix itself.
Give warm sweet drinks only if they are fully awake and can swallow. No alcohol, it opens the skin vessels and dumps the core heat.
Warm the trunk first: chest, back, armpits, groin. Warm packs wrapped in cloth, body-to-body contact under blankets, a warm room.
Handle a badly chilled person gently and keep them lying flat. Rough movement of a cold heart can trigger a fatal rhythm.
If they become unresponsive, check breathing for up to a minute, it can be very slow, and start CPR only if there is none. Keep going, cold bodies survive long resuscitations.

Ne faites jamais cela

Never give alcohol, and never rub or massage the limbs. Both push cold blood from the shell into the core and can stop the heart.
Never put a badly chilled person into a hot bath or against direct heat. Rewarming must be gentle and from the middle out.
Never declare a cold person dead. Nobody is dead until they are warm and dead, that decision belongs to a hospital.

Appelez les secours si

Shivering has stopped, or the person is confused, stumbling, slurring or unusually sleepy.
Any hypothermia in a child, an older person, or anyone injured, drunk or found outdoors.
The person is rigid, barely breathing or unresponsive. Start care and keep the line open.

Questions fréquentes

Shivering stopped, is that improvement?

The opposite. Shivering is the body's heater, and it shuts down when fuel runs out or the core drops further. A cold person who stops shivering and goes quiet is getting worse, not better.

What about frostbitten fingers or toes?

Warm the whole person first. Thaw frozen parts in water around 37 to 39 degrees for half an hour, never by fire or rubbing, and never thaw them if they could freeze again before reaching care. Refreezing destroys the tissue.