Electrolyte imbalances — disruptions in the concentrations of sodium, potassium, calcium, and other ions that are critical to cardiac and nervous system function — are also common in rewarming hypothermia patients, and some of these imbalances can themselves trigger arrhythmias or other dangerous complications.

Jean Hilliard, apparently, did not develop significant kidney injury or dangerous electrolyte imbalances during her rewarming.

This is another remarkable aspect of her recovery — not just that she survived the hypothermia itself, but that the rewarming process did not produce secondary complications that would have complicated or prevented her recovery.

The monitoring of a rewarming hypothermia patient requires vigilance precisely because these secondary risks are real and significant.

The medical team at Fosston, working with a patient in an unprecedented clinical situation for them, managed the rewarming well enough that the secondary risks either did not materialize or were managed before they became catastrophic.