Home Treatment First Aid for Cold Exposure (2024)

FAQs

Home Treatment First Aid for Cold Exposure? ›

Move the victim into a warm room or shelter. Remove their wet clothing. Warm the center of their body first-chest, neck, head, and groin-using an electric blanket, if available; or use skin-to-skin contact under loose, dry layers of blankets, clothing, towels, or sheets.

Move the victim into a warm room or shelter. Remove their wet clothing. Warm the center of their body first-chest, neck, head, and groin-using an electric blanket, if available; or use skin-to-skin contact under loose, dry layers of blankets, clothing, towels, or sheets.

Gently move the person out of the cold. If going indoors isn't possible, protect the person from the wind, especially around the neck and head. Insulate the individual from the cold ground, such as by laying a blanket underneath the person. Gently remove wet clothing.

Drink warm fluids. Try to avoid fluids that contain alcohol or caffeine. Rewarm small areas of your body that are cold. If your ears, face, nose, fingers, or toes are really cold or frozen, try to warm them by blowing warm air on them, tucking them inside your clothing, or putting them in warm water.

Warm gently by soaking the affected area in warm. water (100–105 degrees F) until it appears red and feels warm. Loosely bandage the area with dry, sterile dressings. If the person's fingers or toes are frostbitten, place dry, sterile gauze between them to keep them separated.

Hypothermia Treatment

Protect the person against wind, drafts, and further heat loss with warm, dry clothes and blankets. Move gently to a warm, dry shelter as soon as possible. Begin rewarming the person with extra clothing and warm blankets. Use your own body heat if nothing else is available.

How to warm up after cold exposure? ›

After you're exposed to a cold virus, it typically takes 1 to 3 days for you to develop symptoms. But it's possible to develop symptoms as soon as 10 to 12 hours after exposure. Peak of symptoms: Cold symptoms peak at 1 to 3 days. This is when you're most contagious.

The stages of a cold include the incubation period, appearance of symptoms, remission, and recovery. The common cold is a mild upper respiratory infection caused by viruses.

Get out of the cold, remove wet clothes and wrap up in a warm blanket. If possible, soak the skin with frostbite in a tub or sink of warm water for about 30 minutes. For frostbite on the nose or ears, cover the area with warm, wet cloths for about 30 minutes. Another option is to warm the affected skin with body heat.

Move the person to a warm room or vehicle. Remove wet clothes and replace with dry clothes, cover the body (including the head and neck) with layers of blankets; and with a vapor barrier (e.g. tarp, garbage bag).

Most of the studies use ice baths or cold water immersion to the neck. Those are best, but cold showers can work too (and are more accessible to most).

How are chills treated? Layering clothes or getting to a warm place can make cold chills go away. You can also drink hot chocolate, coffee or tea to raise your internal body temperature. If an illness, infection or another health problem causes chills, treating the condition should get rid of the symptom.

Use heating pads or an electric blanket when you're relaxing at home, and hand warmers when you're outside. Wear warm socks and slippers around your home. Close off rooms you aren't using, close vents, and close curtains or blinds to maximize the heat in your living space. Drink warm beverages, like hot tea.