Accidental hypothermia
Meaning of accidental hypothermia: For the purposes of this Statement of Principles, accidental hypothermia: (a) means the unintentional lowering of core body temperature to 35 degrees Celsius or lower due to exposure to cold environmental temperature, in an individual without a primary disturbance of thermoregulation; and (b) excludes intentionally induced hypothermia and hypothermia due to a toxicologic or pharmacologic cause. (3) While accidental hypothermia attracts ICD-10-AM code T68, in applying this Statement of Principles the meaning of accidental hypothermia is that given in subsection (2). (4) For subsection (3), a reference to an ICD-10-AM code is a reference to the code assigned to a particular kind of injury or disease in The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Revision, Australian Modification (ICD-10-AM), Tenth Edition, effective date of 1 July 2017, copyrighted by the Independent Hospital Pricing Authority, ISBN 978-1-76007-296-4.
Reasonable Hypothesis (RH) — Statement of Principles No. 21 of 2018
At least one of the following factors must as a minimum exist before it can be said that a reasonable hypothesis has been raised connecting accidental hypothermia or death from accidental hypothermia with the circumstances of a person's relevant service:
- (1)being exposed to low environmental temperature at the time of the clinical onset of accidental hypothermia;
Note: Exposure to low environmental temperatures may occur during military training or exercises in the outdoors, but is also likely to occur in other circumstances, examples of which include: occupational exposure (for example, cold room), poorly controlled psychiatric disease or suicide attempt, substances or diseases that affect the level of consciousness (for example, alcohol intoxication, drug overdose or epileptic seizure), injury or diseases that affect the ability to walk (for example, heart attack or stroke), diseases that impair cognition (for example, dementia), and homelessness.
- (2)inability to obtain appropriate clinical management for accidental hypothermia;
Aggravation-only factors: the factors in subsection 9(2) apply only to material contribution to, or aggravation of, the condition where it was suffered or contracted before or during (but did not arise out of) the person’s relevant service.
Balance of Probabilities (BoP) — Statement of Principles No. 22 of 2018
2 factors
At least one of the following factors must exist before it can be said that, on the balance of probabilities, accidental hypothermia or death from accidental hypothermia is connected with the circumstances of a person's relevant service:
- (1)being exposed to low environmental temperature at the time of the clinical onset of accidental hypothermia;
Note: Exposure to low environmental temperatures may occur during military training or exercises in the outdoors, but is also likely to occur in other circumstances, examples of which include: occupational exposure (for example, cold room), poorly controlled psychiatric disease or suicide attempt, substances or diseases that affect the level of consciousness (for example, alcohol intoxication, drug overdose or epileptic seizure), injury or diseases that affect the ability to walk (for example, heart attack or stroke), diseases that impair cognition (for example, dementia), and homelessness.
- (2)inability to obtain appropriate clinical management for accidental hypothermia;
Aggravation-only factors: the factors in subsection 9(2) apply only to material contribution to, or aggravation of, the condition where it was suffered or contracted before or during (but did not arise out of) the person’s relevant service.
