David Metsky
Well-known member
John,
I think there is a changing opinion in backcountry medicine. Putting a second person in the bag has been the traditional recommendation but observations have shown it to be ineffective. Many leading edge organizations (SOLO, NOLS) no longer recommend this, and I suspect others will follow over time. Just like cutting the wound to suck out snake bite poison, some methods that were widely recommended may lose favor.
From here :
It's not likely to harm someone, but there are better ways to expend your energy in this situation.
-dave-
I think there is a changing opinion in backcountry medicine. Putting a second person in the bag has been the traditional recommendation but observations have shown it to be ineffective. Many leading edge organizations (SOLO, NOLS) no longer recommend this, and I suspect others will follow over time. Just like cutting the wound to suck out snake bite poison, some methods that were widely recommended may lose favor.
From here :
The traditional recommendation is to place the patient in one or more bags with at least one other person as a heat source. In our experience the hypothermia wrap with hot water bottles is a more effective practice. The insulation of the sleeping bags suffers as people get in and out and the warmers are not available for other tasks such as setting up camp and preparing food. If one person in the group has become hypothermic others are at risk. The warmers can quickly become cold and fatigued. Experts disagree on the amount of heat transferred body to body - some think its low. The value of the warm person in the sleeping bag may be to heat the insulation, not to transfer heat directly to the patient. We recommend, if this method is used, that the warmers wear at least a thin layer of clothing. Feed the warmers to keep their energy level up. Clothing placed over the opening of zipped-together sleeping bags helps reduce heat loss. Several sleeping bags placed over the patient and the warmers will also help. A humid environment inside the sleeping bag reduces respiratory heat loss as does loosely wrapping a scarf or other article of clothing across the patient's mouth and nose.
It's not likely to harm someone, but there are better ways to expend your energy in this situation.
-dave-