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hi all, I was just wondering if anyone knows of a case where the cause of death was ruled drowning while the person was wearing a pfd (excluding cases of hypothermia etc)? If so, what were the conditions, type of pfd, or any other relative data? just curious, robin lovelock *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
> I was just wondering if anyone knows of a case where the cause of death was > ruled drowning while the person was wearing a pfd (excluding cases of > hypothermia etc)? If so, what were the conditions, type of pfd, or any other > relative data? Yes, there have been a number of flush drownings of paddlers wearing PFDs. I refer you (and everyone else) to the River Safety Report series edited by Charlie Walbridge, and published by the ACA. It is the most complete set of data/reports/stats on the subject that I'm aware of. (But it does NOT make good bedtime reading the night before you go on a trip.) ---Rsk Rich Kulawiec rsk_at_gsp.org *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
Following the thread on the potential of drowning when equipped with a PFD: two thoughts. Looking back at the stats I reported earlier from the USCG, in 1997, 586 recreational boaters drowned, and nine out of ten were not wearing a PFD. With my math phobia in the closet, I'd guess that something like 58 or 59 of those folks were wearing flotation devices when they died! >From a personal front, my (limited) training in WW at the Nantahala and Chatooga Rivers and my Navy flight training also taught me that a PFD will work only if it's attached correctly. One training session on the Chatooga involved jumping off a 15 foot --- looked like 50 foot --- high rock into a deep spot just below a mean hydraulic. The water flow would wash the swimmer out quickly if he or she went in further than planned, and the instructors all were ready with ropes to drag in the jumpers. Good exercise, good training. But not if the PFD were loose. A jump like that whips any loose flotation device right over the swimmer's head, frequently damaging the chin, nose and forehead. And it floats <really> well without the swimmer in it anymore, so it leaves on its own, and the swimmer now rides in --- and under --- the hydraulic outflow for a bit more time and for a longer underwater stay. <Wearing> PFDs and dressing for the water temperature --- some of life's little lessons to know that you're screwing up! Jack Martin *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
On Thu, Oct 08, 1998 at 07:04:38AM -0700, Mattson, Timothy G wrote: > What is a flush drowning? I bet a number of us on the Paddlewise list would > like to know. Flush drowning is what happens is when someone manages to drown even though they're wearing a PFD and are (mostly) on the surface of the water. A victim can aspirate a large amount of water for a variety of reasons -- immersion shock, hypothermia, large waves -- when swimming in whitewater, even if their PFD is doing a reasonable job of keeping them on the surface. (Type V PFDs, like most rafting companies use, help to prevent this, but are by no means a panacea.) These tend to happen on rivers that are one or more of: cold, continuous whitewater, flood-stage, high volume, and fast. Early in my paddling career, I deliberately swam most of the rapids on the upper part of the New River (above Thurmond) just to get used to the experience. Almost without exception, those rapids feature moderate waves in wide, unobstructed channels, so they're pretty safe to swim, *if* you're wearing a PFD and *if* you remember to time your breathing to happen when you're on the surface. (The hardest part is remembering to exhale.) I did this because I'd had an experience where I took in a lot more water than I needed to while swimming a nasty, cold bit of whitewater, and because I wanted to learn how to do it under mostly-controlled conditions....and because I'd heard about flush drownings and didn't want to be one. ---Rsk Rich Kulawiec rsk_at_gsp.org *************************************************************************** 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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