Accidental hypothermia.

Hypothermia continues to be a major public health problem and a challenge to health care providers. The very young, the very old, and the poor are at greatest risk. Life-threatening physiologic changes make rapid rewarming mandatory. Numerous rewarming methods have been described in the literature; the decision to use any of the methods available depends on the degree of hypothermia present, the condition of the patient, and the rewarming rate possible with the method chosen. Cardiopulmonary bypass, if available, is the optimal method for rewarming the severely hypothermic patient.