An 8-year-old boy has fallen through the ice while skating on a frozen pond. By the time paramedics arrive, the boy has been removed from the water by his friends, but his core body temperature is 31.1°C (88.0°F). The responders would recognize that which of the following physiological processes would have been active during the boy's accident?
A) Production and release of cortisol as a heat generation process
B) Stimulation of the thyroid gland in order to increase cellular activity
C) Heat production through increased body metabolism
D) Energy generation through the release of epinephrine and norepinephrine

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

An immediate response to low temperature is a heat-generating increase in metabolism.Cortisol is not involved in heat generation, and the thyroid is only capable of alonger-term effect on metabolic activity. Epinephrine and norepinephrine shift activity away from energy production and toward heat production.

An 8-Year-Old Boy Has Fallen Through the Ice While Skating