3 7 Health Allergies and Fir st Aid Hypo thermia Pre v ention Hyp o thermia can be pre v ent ed on land b y taking sensible precautions Use the buddy syst em t o monit or y our feld par tner s because victims of t en do no t recognize their o wn sym pt oms If there is the slight est chance that someone is suf f ering fr om h ypo thermia ne v er lea v e that per son alone or le t them w ander of f as their condition ma y de t eriorat e suddenly F ollo w these pre v entiv e measures Dress appr opriat ely Alw a ys carr y e xtra w arm la y er s and a w at er pr oof out er garment with y ou R emember some types of w e t clo thing especially co tt on can e xtract heat fr om the body in cold w eather much f ast er than dr y clo thing whereas w ool and polar feece garments e v en though w e t re tain a reasonably good insulating q uality An unco v ered head can account f or up t o 60 of body heat loss in cold w eather so carr y a w ool t oq ue or cap A hood attached t o y our rain jack e t or lif e jack e t is also a v aluable aid Carr y w at er pr oof matches or a cigare tt e light er and some means of easily star ting a fre Build a fre andor shelt er as soon as y ou f eel chilled St op an d rest or se t up a t em porar y cam p depending on the se v erity of conditions bef ore e xhaustion occur s Carr y e xtra f ood par ticularly energy pr oducing it ems containing f ats sugar s and star ches eg candies raisins nuts Eat freq uently and drink suffcient w at er t o a v oid deh ydration because the digestion of f ood req uires w at er Hypo thermia pre v ention f or boat er s is considerably more comple x and diffcult In remo t e areas capsizing f ar fr om shore in cold w at er usually results in death Boat er s should be a w are that some lif esa ving de vices of f er little or no thermal pr o t ection in cold w at er U nless adeq uat e thermal clo thing f oamlined lif e jack e ts pref erably with a hood and cr o tch fap or sur viv al suits are w orn boat er s will o ther wise rapidly succumb t o h ypo thermia e v en though saf e fr om dr o wning