Peter "Treeman" Jenkins

Hypothermia Away From Home

Winter is the extreme of extreme seasons as far as tree climbing is concerned. The farther  away you go from shelter, the more risk you take on with hypothermia. When acute hypothermia sets in, it’s not just a simple walk to safety because the body of the victim is shutting down. The victim needs warming immediately or they could die. Here is what Tom and Joanne O’Toole in  Backwoods Home Magazine have to say about this dangerous condition:

“Once it is determined a person is becoming hypothermic, it is essential others offer aid to prevent additional body heat loss. Skin-to-skin contact is an excellent way to transfer body heat. A field measure for rewarming is to remove all clothing and place the victim in a sleeping bag or in a blanket with one or two rescuers who have also removed their clothing.

If this is not possible, build two fires and put the person between them. Even better would be four fires, to surround them with heat.

If the victim appears dead, continue trying to restore body heat. Often hypothermics appear lifeless. Yet their vital organs continue to function—but at a much lower rate—and they are alive. The medical adage is, “No one is dead until they are warm and dead.”

 

Hypothermia is a serious event, not to be taken lightly. Here are some things you can do to help make your cold-weather climb turn out as an adventure, not a survival experience.

•        Climb close to home. It won’t be nearly as perilous as a deep-woods hike to a climbing tree.

•        Forget about solo climbs. They can wait for better weather.

•        Climbing with a buddy increases safety. You can watch each other’s back, especially looking out for symptoms early on, before they get acute.

•       Having dry clothes, a blanket, or sleeping bag nearby is good insurance.

•        Having a cell phone with strong batteries is a must in case of emergency.

 

Winter is not the only time you can be hypothermic. Authorities say you can be affected with temperatures as high as 50 degrees. All it takes is a wet person and wind exposure. Even a sweat-drenched body can fall to hypothermia! You need to know what this condition looks like and be ready to act.

What Not To Do with a Hypothermia Victim

It is human nature to come to the aid of a victim. Tree climbers are especially gregarious folks, but what might appear on the surface as common sense might be the wrong aid for a hypothermia victim. Here is what Tom and Joanne O’Toole  in Backwoods Home Magazine have to say about what NOT to do:

• don’t massage the arms or legs
• don’t raise the legs
• don’t put the person in hot water
• don’t allow any type of exercise
• don’t give alcohol or drugs
• don’t administer hot drinks or hot food

“What you should do is promptly get them out of the elements, cover the head and neck to prevent further body heat loss, remove wet or damp clothing and replace it with dry garments, keep the body warm to maintain the vital organs, and handle the person gently. Gentle handling is extremely important so as to not cause ventricular fibrillation—a condition when the heart quivers but does not pump blood.”

It’s critical to do the right thing in an emergency. But half the battle is knowing what not to do. A review of these points is useful at the briefing before the tree-climbing team goes out on a wintry day.

What Hypothermia Looks Like

Tree climbers need to know the signs of hypothermia so they can act quickly. It’s good to review signs with your climbing partners before going out into the cold winter air so you can watch each other’s backs. Here is what Tom and Joanne O’Toole in Backwoods Home Magazine have to say about what hypothermia looks like.

“Once the affliction begins, many people are unable to counteract the process by themselves. When the blood to the brain is slowed, the mind fails to function correctly. There are many symptoms, but it is usually the other person who recognizes them in someone having the reactions. Frequently the person experiencing the tell-tale signs becomes too disoriented to realize what is going on.

Ignore protests that everything is okay. Denial of being cold is common, and a hypothermic may truly believe nothing is wrong. Their judgment is impaired. They become drowsy, and usually want to drift off to sleep—but to sleep is to die.

Victims can range from appearing drunk or in a delirium, to acting desperate or combative. Any of these reactions are probably a signal someone is suffering from hypothermia:

•       Difficulty with simple tasks (clumsy actions)

•        Dull eyes

•        Listlessness

•        Slurred speech

•        Incoherency

•        Confusion

•        Forgetfulness

•        Fatigue

•       An inability to control the hands, arms, legs, or feet

•        Stumbling

•        Slow breathing

•        Cold, stiff muscles

•        Uncontrollable shivering or trembling

•        The stomach cold to the touch

•        Apparent exhaustion

•        Someone dozing off and being hard to arouse

Advanced stages of hypothermia render a person unconscious, the skin turns bluish-gray, muscles are rigid, breathing is shallow, and the pulse is weak. Re-warming is crucial, and medical assistance is necessary.”

Winter is a wonderland. It is also an extreme season with the coldest days. You’ll have a memorable adventure when you venture out on that chilly day armed with good tree-climbing technique and basic survival skills, like keeping warm, dry, and knowing when trouble is on the horizon.

Hypothermia - An Enemy to Tree Climbers

Hypothermia is a deadly condition that can sneak up on a tree climber, even if it is not winter. The temperature might be fifty degrees, but if you are wet and the wind is up, you could be in trouble. Common sense says get out of your wet clothing and get to a warmer environment. But normal mental functioning isn’t always happening when a victim is in denial. “I’m all right. I’ll be OK,” the victim says through chattering teeth.

What is hypothermia? Here is what Tom and Joanne O’Toole have to say about the subject in Backwoods Home Magazine:

“Hypothermia is the rapid and drastic chilling of the body’s core temperature (normally 98.6 degrees F) during adverse conditions, and begins when the body loses heat faster than it can be replaced. As the body temperature drops because of exposure to cool air and cold water, things begin to happen in a predictable sequence. Left unchecked, it affects one’s mental condition and physical reactions, and can result in unconsciousness. The ultimate result is death.

“There are two types of this debilitating condition—chronic (long onset) and acute (rapid onset).”

Tree climbers fall into the chronic condition most of the time. The times I have experienced it is when I have been climbing after a brief, sudden rain shower without waterproof outer garments and reaching a stopping position high in the tree. My circulation slows down and the wind has increased. I’m in the treetops where winds breathe freely and panoramic views hypnotize. Suddenly I am very cold.

But  then there is acute hypothermia. Slipping in the water while fording a shallow creek seems innocent enough until the teeth start to chatter. Winter makes a tree climber more cautious but what about those not-so-cold days?

“Be prepared” is prudent advice. But spontaneous tree climbing doesn’t always fit this pattern. There are things you can do if you find yourself in a predicament of hypothermia. But first you need to know what hypothermia looks like.

My Doc Told Me Not to Climb Trees

I recently got a hernia repair and my doc said not to go tree climbing for another 4-6 weeks. Here’s how hernia repair works: A surgeon cuts you open, puts mesh over the damaged area, and sews you back up. Then you wait for the body to do its natural mending magic, but you have to wait.

I’ve never had a physical condition that required me to not climb trees or do strenuous work. Being of rational mind and not wanting to risk damaging the work that has been done, I’ve had to alter my tree-climbing notions. This is what I do now while I wait.

•    I visit my climbing trees. My scientific reason is to monitor the trees’ condition. My emotional reason is to stay connected to my “standing people” friends.

•    I scope out the forest near my regular trees. Have any trees fallen? Have any branches dropped nearby?

•    I take pictures of my climbing trees. They don’t have leaves now and they sport a new look.

•    I scout for new trees to climb. I look at where I’ll make my throw and which route I’ll take.

I waited to get surgery during my “off time.” I no longer take on students during the cold season. But winter days are bug-free, a big draw for a southern tree climber. It’s quiet out in the woods too. No one is around. I know I will be climbing soon. For now I have to throttle back.

When Tree Climbers Get Wet in Winter

If you get wet while tree climbing in winter you need to move quickly. There is no time to waste if you did not dress properly and shelter is not nearby. Hopefully you ate a nutritious meal before you started out. If you were smart you brought a high-energy snack with you. Start eating in nibbles because you will need the extra energy to keep your body heat up.

Leave your rope behind if you must travel any distance on foot. Sure, you paid good money for it, but you are worth more than that hundred or so dollars. Besides, who in the world would want to swipe a soggy rope, anyway? You can go back for it later.

The important thing is to get to warm shelter and dry clothing as soon as possible. You do not want to wait for hypothermia symptoms to set in, one of which is the loss of mental functions. Now is not the time to lose it.

The trick is not to go out in the wet cold weather.

•      Check the weather forecast before you go out.

•        Dress appropriately.

•      Let others know where you are going if you are solo.

•       Exit your tree quickly when it starts raining.

 

Rain and winter climbing are a bad mix. Most of the time you can avoid this kind of exposure. Wet conditions are not something to play with when temperatures are low.

Cold Rain - Tree Climbers’ Disdain

The one kind of weather that experienced tree climbers avoid in winter is cold, liquid rain. I do not know any tree climber who would intentionally go climbing in winter while it is raining unless a heroic deed is happening, like rescuing a cat. 

The biggest danger to getting wet in the winter is hypothermia. You start losing core body temperature with a number of symptoms which can eventually lead to death if unchecked. It is very serious. But let’s talk about the inconveniences of a brief exposure to winter wetness and why you need to come in out of the rain.

The biggest inconvenience is a wet rope.

•      Ropes increase more than twice their weight when wet. Lugging out a wet rope is no fun.

•      The friction hitch gets stickier and less responsive when wet. You’ll have to pull down harder to get things moving.

•       As your friction hitch slides down the rope, it squeezes out the captured moisture. Where does it go? It runs down your arm and into your armpit!

• If the temperature suddenly drops below freezing you have a real nightmare. The rope freezes and becomes stiff as an overdose of Viagra. Now things get truly unpredictable as far as knot performance. You can be called a saint if your language doesn’t make a turn for the gutter when you coil up your rope.

Are there tree climbers that go out in the winter rain on purpose? I haven't met any, except one canopy researcher who was collecting data. Tough guy! Very dedicated to science.

The Four Faces of Winter Precipitation

Winter precipitation has four different faces and each one affects tree climbing and the trees being climbed. Here is what the Weather Channel has to say about the four different types of precipitation.

•     Rain. All precipitation starts out as ice or snow crystals at cloud level. When this frozen precipitation falls into a layer of sufficiently warmer air (with temperatures above freezing) it melts into rain. If this warm air extends all the way to the surface of the earth, rain will fall at ground level.

•    Freezing rain. Rain droplets that fall into a shallow layer of cold air near the earth’s surface can freeze upon contact with the ground, leaving a coating of glaze. This is known as freezing rain.

•    Snow. Snow is freezing precipitation in the form of a six-sided ice crystal. Snow requires temperatures to be below freezing in all or most of the atmosphere from the surface to cloud level.

•    Sleet. Sleet is frozen precipitation falling as ice pellets. Ice pellets occur when snowflakes melt into raindrops as they pass through a thin layer of warmer air. The raindrops then refreeze into particles of ice when they fall into a layer of sub-freezing air near the surface of the earth.

 

In the next series we will take a closer look at these forms of precipitation. Each form changes the tree-climbing experience. The common denominator to the four faces, though not always so, is colder temperatures. Deciduous trees stand bare of leaves. Most wildlife are nestled away, waiting for the spring temperature rise. There is a hush on the land.

Only the hardiest and most adventurous of tree climbers go aloft this time of year. There are rewards with matched risks on the other side. This is a season every climber should experience at least once before spring explodes.

Out in the Dark Climbing Trees

I think we are all subjects of habit. But seasons change. This is something I forget as a tree climber. Those long summer days give me license to push my climbing hours to the max. With the long summer days, I can easily miss a dinner or, worse, show up late to a pacing wife. But in the winter, four o’clock sneaks up mighty fast. Before you can coil your rope, it’s dark.           What’s the big deal about shortened hours? It’s all about safety.

• It’s easy to leave gear behind. When it is dark, that all-important small piece of gear can get lost. Your next climb will find you suddenly without a piece of gear you rely on.
• You can trip or stumble around when you get on the ground. This can cause an inconvenient injury, like a sprained ankle.
• People can’t find you as easily in the dark if you run into problems.
• It gets cold quickly when the sun goes down in winter. This can be critical if you are injured.
  

So what is a tree climber to do? Here are some things you can do so you won’t be left out in the cold.

• Get out of the tree earlier. I know this sounds like common sense, but the lure of that spectacular sunset can make you do something not so smart, like getting caught in the dark with your rope dangling and gear all spread out on the ground.
• Take two flash lights with you. Why two? If you are luckless, one might have dead batteries you forgot to change or it got turned on accidentally while in the pack.
• Carry a cell phone with charged batteries so you can calm worried partners with a call or make an emergency call if you’re injured.
• Call in the GPS coordinates on your climbing tree’s location to a friend BEFORE you climb. That way emergency folks will know where to look for you in a worse-case scenario. If you are having trouble getting your call out due to poor reception, try from higher up or from the treetop.

 

Always climb smart. That way you get to climb again. A little preparation goes a long way in your unusual climbing pursuits.

Meteor Shower Watching From the Treetops Jan. 8

Have you ever watched a meteor shower from the treetops? You’ll get your chance Thursday night on January 8 when the Quadrantids, one of the best but least-known meteor showers, will shine in the new year, says Michael E. Bakich in Astronomy Magazine.

            How do you watch meteors from the treetops? It’s easy when you know what to do.

• First check the weather. You won’t see much if it is cloudy or worse, raining.
• Select a tree next. Choose a hardwood that has dropped all the leaves. You want to be able to see through the treetop. You don’t have to go to the top. You only need a tree that allows you to set up a Treeboat or Portaledge.
• Set up during the day. Night time rigging is risky and takes much more time. Use a fixed line you set up during the day to get to your hammock setup. It’s wise to leave your bed made up and ready.
• Don’t want to leave your gear up in the tree? Use a single point suspension Portaledge you pre rigged with a rope during the day. Make your bed on the ground, hoist it up, tie it off at the trunk and you’re set to go.
• Important! Prepare for extreme cold. You must use a Thermolite insulating pad or Treeboat Cozy. Use a sleeping bag that will take you down well below the predicted low. Wear a warm head cover as well.
• Bring food and a hot beverage. The hot drink is a major bonus! Which leads to the next important item.
• Bring a pee bottle. Make sure you have practiced the technique at least once aloft before going on your star gazing outing. You can practice low. Remain tied in at all times- that’s the catch. No off rope peeing!

The moon will be minimal for this meteor shower which is a big plus. You will see much more. Get as far away from city lights as you can. Forty miles from the city is recommended.