It’s early winter in your Emergency Department, and an intoxicated 45 yo male is found outside. You see the following finding on the EKG at triage and measure a core temp of 89F. Other EKG patterns associated with this diagnosis include all of the following except?

A.QT prolongation  

B. Peaked T waves

C. Bradyarrhythmias

D. Asystole

Answer: B. This patient has hypothermia. What you see on his EKG is an Osborne wave, a positive J point deflection that often correlates with the degree of hypothermia. The other answer choices can also be seen with hypothermia with the exception of peaked T waves, which are associated with hyperkalemia.