TWO WINGS AND A PRAYER: Crash victims' other danger: hypothermia

Aside from possible injuries, hypothermia from exposure

to the frigid waters of the Hudson River would be the first medical concern for

survivors of the US Airways plane crash yesterday, doctors said.

"More than a few minutes' exposure puts you at risk," said Dr. Steven

Walerstein, medical director of Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow.

Hypothermia, which can cause death, occurs when the core body temperature

falls below 95 degrees and the heart, kidneys or central nervous system are

affected.

"Mechanical trauma" - broken bones - would also be a concern, said Dr. David

Lee, an emergency medicine doctor at North Shore University Hospital in

Manhasset.

Emergency medical workers would immediately try to wrap survivors in dry

blankets to let their bodies warm up, Walerstein said.

If the hypothermia appeared to be more severe - symptoms can include

shivering, confusion, memory loss, slowed heartbeat, slurred speech -

treatments can become "more invasive," Lee said.

Wrapping the person in heated blankets or inserting warmed catheters into

the body can be used in more extreme cases, he said.

Both doctors said survivors with lung or heart disease could also be

vulnerable to a worsening of their symptoms. "The stress, the outpouring of

adrenaline, could cause an imbalance in the blood and oxygen and you could see

angina [chest pain when the heart doesn't get enough blood] or heart attacks,"

Walerstein said.

People with asthma or emphysema could experience more difficulty breathing,

he said.