For those that didnt know, my son, John Moore, got hypothermia at the FHS band competition Sat. Nov. 1st. It was pretty bad and we were blessed that the parent on the bus with him noticed that something wasnt right with John. He didnt respond when she asked him if he was okay, he was confused, disoriented, his eyes looked glassy eyed and he was shaking, and she said he felt ice cold. Thank goodness she got his wet top suit off and wrapped a blanket around him and tried to get him warm. They called me at home and told me that they thought he had had a seizure. When I met them at the school, he didnt even recognize me, he was no longer shivering (or having a seizure as they thought), but he seemed extremely sleepy, and I kept having to tell him that it was okay now because Mom was there. He still didnt recognize me. He was slow to respond, stuttering, and short of breath. It was really scary. He was hard to direct and get him to walk to the car. I was trying real hard to stay calm because he was not acting normal and wasnt recognizing me. We could have lost him that night, if that parent hadnt of helped him the way she did. John was doing what he was told by Mr. Williams, and that was not to change into dry clothes until they got back to the school. Wrong call. Some of the kids changed anyways, but my son was doing what he was told and it could have cost him his life. They are lucky that none of the other kids had gotten hypothermia too. It is serious and rainy cold weather like that is the number one perfect opportunity to develop hypothermia. The kids were in that weather all day long. The one parent told me that they sat out in the cold rain for at least 2 hours straight and then John stayed out another hour helping put stuff away. John also does not remember any of this. I am just grateful that John is okay, that the parent on the bus paid attention and caught on that something was wrong, that the parent made the right call and tried to get him warm. I am grateful to still have my son and that none of the other kids got hypothermia too. I just want to vent about it and let whomever reads this know that hypothermia is very serious and can happen fast with the right weather conditions. And trust me when I say that day was extremely cold and rainy. Normally, the activity of the heart and liver produce most of your body heat. But as core body temperature cools, these organs produce less heat, in essence causing a protective shut down to preserve heat and protect the brain. Low body temperature can slow brain activity, breathing, and heart rate. Confusion and fatigue can set in, hampering a persons ability to understand whats happening and make intelligent choices to get to safety. On an event like that with weather like that, they need to be more informed about the causes and symptoms of hypothermia and the seriousness of it. They need to be more aware of the possibility of hypothermia, symptoms to look for, and how to prevent it from happening. My son was not and did not have a seizure, thank goodness for that.
Posted on: Sun, 16 Nov 2014 02:04:25 +0000
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