Which term describes core temperature below 95°F?

• A. Hypothermia
• B. Frostbite
• C. Fever
• D. Trench Foot

Answer: (A)

When the body’s core temperature falls below 95°F, the condition is called hypothermia. This term describes a systemic cooling of the whole body, not just a single area. As temperature drops, the body’s metabolic processes slow, leading to symptoms such as shivering at first, then slowed speech, clumsiness, confusion, drowsiness, and eventually slowed breathing and heart rate if it worsens. This distinguishes it from frostbite, which is tissue freezing typically in extremities; fever, which is an elevated body temperature from infection or inflammation; and trench foot, a nonfreezing cold injury from prolonged damp cold that damages skin and tissue of the feet. So the best term for core temperature below 95°F is hypothermia.