Accidental Hypothermia

To the Editor: In their review article on accidental hypothermia, Brown et al. (Nov. 15 issue) 1 summarize very well the current understanding about this condition, along with triage and treatment. 2 , 3 One cannot emphasize enough that advanced life support must be continued without interruption if the patient shows vital signs at rescue followed by hypothermic cardiac arrest (rescue death). In the absence of major trauma, there is a 47% chance of long-term survival after cardiopulmonary bypass rewarming, with total recovery 5 years after the accident. 4 A recent study describes an unmatched result of 100% short-term survival of young female patients . . .