What action helps prevent a patient from becoming cold from the start?

• A. Use a blanket to warm them up
• B. Turn on the air conditioner
• C. Remove outer clothing
• D. Do nothing

Answer: (A)

Maintaining warmth from the outset is essential to keep the patient’s core temperature stable. A blanket provides immediate warmth by adding insulation and trapping a layer of warm air next to the skin, which reduces heat loss through radiation, convection, and conduction. This helps prevent hypothermia, lowers the metabolic stress on the body, and keeps the patient more comfortable and easier to monitor during sedation. In contrast, turning on the air conditioner would increase heat loss, removing outer clothing would expose more skin to cooler air and promote cooling, and doing nothing allows heat to escape. Using a blanket is the simplest, most effective way to start off warm.