Re: [Paddlewise] What's in the PFD?

Goffma_at_aol.com wrote:
> Okay, I've been watching this thread from the sidelines for weeks but now  
> it's getting silly.
>  
> Yes, there is very good data from the Coast Guard that supports using a PFD  
> when paddling.  At least here in the First District (East Coast  from NY to 
> Maine).  Your mileage may vary, but in the last five years or so  that I have 
> been involved in Paddle Safety education, the percentage of paddler  corpses 
> pulled from the water that were not wearing PFD's has been around 80%.  

We have year-round cold water in the Northwest, perhaps even colder than 
the summertime temps where you are Mark.  Just for the record, we do get 
"drowning" fatalities out here, who are wearing flotation ... not a high 
percentage, but some.  Inevitably, though they drowned, hypothermia was the 
root cause, inasmuch as loss of consciousness causes the head to loll, and 
the unconscious person inhales water.

As to whether the non-PFD "drowning" fatalities would have lived if they 
had been wearing a PFD, perhaps some would, although wearing a Type III PFD 
[kind we wear] does not keep an unconscious person's head out of the water.

The point might be that you give yourself a _better_ chance of rescue as a 
conscious or semiconscious body if you wear the PFD.  There is no certainty 
that the PFD will "save" you on cold water.  OTOH, knowledge and practice 
in how to re-enter a swamped boat, in combination with clothing apropos for 
the water temp, is the best prevention against drowning for paddlers, PFD 
or not.

-- 
Dave Kruger
Astoria, OR
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