Fellow kayakers, I'm writing an article for my club newsletter and I need some information. The article is on kayaking safety. The way I see things, kayaking casualties fall into three broad categories, hypothermia, drowning and trauma. My question. What percentage of sea kayaking fatalities are from hypothermia, vs drowning or trauma? I'm not trying to start a new theme or thread, I just need some input. Also, please advise me of the source of your information. Thanks, Ken Mannshardt San Francisco Bay Area Sea Kayakers (BASK) *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
At 05:59 PM 7/26/98 EDT, you wrote: >I'm writing an article on kayaking safety. The way I see things, kayaking casualties fall >into three broad categories, hypothermia, drowning and trauma. I don't see these as broad categories at all. Nor do I think there are an overwhelming number of casualties in sea kayaking. I do suspect though that there are numerous "incidents" in sea kayaking with potentially life threatening consequences. I'll also bet that most go undocumented. Barring someone running you over in the water or other such anomalies, I suspect the true "cause" falls into the category of inadequate paddling skills, poor planning and poor judgment. The first two being lack of preparedness which results in and magnifies the poor judgment. No doubt the government has someone keeping up with death statistics and the Coast Guard could probably point you in the right direction. Good luck! Robert Starling - Orlando ________________________________________________________ Robert Starling Member ASMP / PPA Starling Productions, Inc. Orlando, Florida Phone 800 361-0041 Fax 407 521-0031 http://www.starling.com NetGuide Magazine Internet Site Of The Day *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
In a message dated 98-07-26 19:52:27 EDT, Robert_at_Starling.Com writes: << No doubt the government has someone keeping up with death statistics and the Coast Guard could probably point you in the right direction. >> Unfortunately, Robert, there's very little data in the public domain. I've tried the Coast Guard as a source for this kind of information before, but have not had a lot of success in getting much data. For Ken: nevertheless, I'd be happy to try again at USCG HQ in Washington, DC if you want some help in the research; contact me off-net on this. please. Another good source on data like this is Dr. Chuck Sutherland, who has written a booklet on sea kayaking accident reports; you can reach him at 2210 Finland Road, Green Lane, PA 18054. Good luck --- would be interested to know how/when you publish your results. Joq *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
>Unfortunately, Robert, there's very little data in the public domain. I've >tried the Coast Guard as a source for this kind of information before, but >have not had a lot of success in getting much data. How about the NTSB? National Transportation Safety Board. I think the data you look for falls within their domain. I don't have the address available, but you could get it from Flight Safety (1-800-wx-brief) or your local Flight Standards Safety Office (FSDO). I read some information about deaths related to Kayak accidents. While I am not sure which resourse that was, it was probably Gronseth's book "Deep Trouble." As I remember it, the greatest cause of death was to hypothermia (emmersion was most probably caused by paddling in conditions beyond the capability of the paddler). *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
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> ><<< No Message Collected >>> ??? The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) should be collecting this data. You can find their address/tel. no. from the Airman's Information Manual, or from Flight Safety (1-800-wx-brief) or from the FSDO (flight standards district office). Robert *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
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