Comparison of heat donation through the head or torso on mild hypothermia rewarming.

Objective: The purpose of the study was to compare the effectiveness of head vs torso warming in rewarming mildly hypothermic, vigorously shivering subjects using a similar source of heat donation.

Methods: Six subjects (1 female) were cooled on 3 occasions in 8 ºC water for 60 minutes or to a core temperature of 35 ºC. They were then dried, insulated, and rewarmed by 1) shivering only; 2) charcoal heater applied to the head; or 3) charcoal heater applied to the torso.