Subject: Life Jackets Saves Lives in Cold Water Too U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Public Affairs clip_image001 Date: February 7, 2011 Contact: Rande Wilson Public Affairs Phone: 860-881-0570 Email: rjwilson_at_snet.net http://auxpa.org News Release Life Jackets Saves Lives in Cold Water Too WASHINGTON- The best way to survive an accidental cold water immersion is to wear a life jacket. It will help keep the head above water in the event of an accidental immersion. It will also keep the victim afloat. If unable to rescue themselves, a life jacket can provide some thermal protection against the onset of hypothermia, and keep the swimmer afloat until help arrives. Swimming ability in warm water has little relationship to the ability to swim in cold water. Mario Vittone, a former Coast Guard rescue swimmer states "It is impossible to die from hypothermia in cold water unless you are wearing an approved flotation device, because without flotation - you won't live long enough to become hypothermic, you will most assuredly drown." When the temperature of water is below 50 F significant physiological responses occur, including the possibility of death, The causes of death may include cardiac arrest, deep body (core) cooling resulting in unconsciousness, and circulatory collapse, all of which could end in drowning. The effects of cold water immersion are predictable and well documented by what is known as the 1-10-1 Principle: - 1 minute: Upon immersion in cold water, the body reacts with an involuntary gasp, followed by hyperventilation of up to 10 times regular breathing (if head is underwater during that initial deep gasp, a person can inhale enough water to drown). Avoid panicking-- breathing will return to close to normal. - 10 minutes: A person immersed in cold water will become incapacitated as limb muscles stop working and prevent swimming or self-rescue, so swimmer should attempt to rescue themselves, before incapacitation becomes a factor. If this is not possible, try to get as much of the body out of the water as possible to delay the onset of hypothermia. - 1 hour: After about 60 minutes (depending on the water temperature), the body continues to cool. The resulting hypothermia can create a range of symptoms from confusion to unconsciousness, eventually leading to death. When rescuing a cold water victim beware of post rescue collapse (up to several hours after) by assisting the victim to become dry and warm. Keep him or her still until medical treatment arrives. The United States Coast Guard Auxiliary is the uniformed volunteer Component of the United States Coast Guard created by an Act of Congress in 1939. The Auxiliary, America's Volunteer Guardians, supports the Coast Guard in nearly all of the service's missions. ### [demime 1.01e removed an attachment of type image/jpeg which had a name of clip_image001[2].jpg] *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Dear Rande Wilson, Unfortunately, I was not surprised to receive this: "WASHINGTON- The best way to survive an accidental cold water immersion is to wear a life jacket. " While the best way to remain afloat is probably to wear a life ja.... er.... PF...... oops... "life jacket" it's clearly - CLEARLY - not the best way to avoid hypothermia if you become immersed in cold water. Your press release has not one single word to indicate that protective clothing is recommended. Those of us who have survived years of playing about in small boats are aghast at the complete refusal of the US Government (and the USCG and, apparently, the USCG auxiliary) to recognize that wearing some sort of protective clothing is the best way to protect a person from dying in cold water. Even a $39.95 shorty wetsuit would help. But all you guys can say is wear a PF.... oh, crap... a lifejacket. Wearing a PFD (it's shorter) *is* important.... with emphasis on wearing it and not just having one somewhere in the boat. But don't you think that adding a line about protective clothing might be helpful? Can we get a start on this? How about, "The best way to stay afloat in cold water is to wear a life jacket.... but you'll probably still die from the cold water unless you at least wear a shorty wetsuit under your cotton tee shirt and jeans." Craig Jungers Moses Lake, WA PS: Send someone to join the email list at www.paddlewise.com where there are some interesting discussions about this. CJ ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Subject: Life Jackets Saves Lives in Cold Water Too U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Public Affairs clip_image001 Date: February 7, 2011 Contact: Rande Wilson Public Affairs Phone: 860-881-0570 Email: rjwilson_at_snet.net http://auxpa.org News Release Life Jackets Saves Lives in Cold Water Too WASHINGTON- The best way to survive an accidental cold water immersion is to wear a life jacket. It will help keep the head above water in the event of an accidental immersion. It will also keep the victim afloat. If unable to rescue themselves, a life jacket can provide some thermal protection against the onset of hypothermia, and keep the swimmer afloat until help arrives. Swimming ability in warm water has little relationship to the ability to swim in cold water. Mario Vittone, a former Coast Guard rescue swimmer states "It is impossible to die from hypothermia in cold water unless you are wearing an approved flotation device, because without flotation - you won't live long enough to become hypothermic, you will most assuredly drown." When the temperature of water is below 50 F significant physiological responses occur, including the possibility of death, The causes of death may include cardiac arrest, deep body (core) cooling resulting in unconsciousness, and circulatory collapse, all of which could end in drowning. The effects of cold water immersion are predictable and well documented by what is known as the 1-10-1 Principle: - 1 minute: Upon immersion in cold water, the body reacts with an involuntary gasp, followed by hyperventilation of up to 10 times regular breathing (if head is underwater during that initial deep gasp, a person can inhale enough water to drown). Avoid panicking-- breathing will return to close to normal. - 10 minutes: A person immersed in cold water will become incapacitated as limb muscles stop working and prevent swimming or self-rescue, so swimmer should attempt to rescue themselves, before incapacitation becomes a factor. If this is not possible, try to get as much of the body out of the water as possible to delay the onset of hypothermia. - 1 hour: After about 60 minutes (depending on the water temperature), the body continues to cool. The resulting hypothermia can create a range of symptoms from confusion to unconsciousness, eventually leading to death. When rescuing a cold water victim beware of post rescue collapse (up to several hours after) by assisting the victim to become dry and warm. Keep him or her still until medical treatment arrives. The United States Coast Guard Auxiliary is the uniformed volunteer Component of the United States Coast Guard created by an Act of Congress in 1939. The Auxiliary, America's Volunteer Guardians, supports the Coast Guard in nearly all of the service's missions. ### [demime 1.01e removed an attachment of type image/jpeg which had a name of clip_image001[2].jpg] *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
One difficult task is get get a lot of boaters and/or officials simply to accept the use of lifejacket at all. Even in a state like Pennsylvania which has a fish & boating commission that supports a lot of paddling safety programs. (They even placed billboards advocating wearing one on roads leading the the Lehigh River in NE PA.) Nonetheless, you Cannot get legislation passed in that state to require wearing one. New Jersey's not any better. We tried hard here, and the best we could do (after years of trying) was to get a low passed requiring the wearing of one in the winter months between October and April. --And even then there was a big controversy regarding the adult age cutoff. Much agita about 12 year olds (included or upper limit for children?) Some state parks or management areas have made their own regulations requiring the Wearing of a lifejacket, and they do enforce it. Once, when I was a scout commissioner years ago, I had a scoutmaster who absolutely refused to have his scouts wear a lifejacket. He maintained that they were already good paddlers and didn't need a 'training bra'. It's amazing how emotional people can get about this topic... Insofar as local paddling clubs are concerned, nearly all I am involved in require the Wearing of a pfd at all times on the water -- and they do enforce it. So do the paddlers. I've been on more than one trip where someone forgot his lifejacket and if a spare wasn't available from someone, they became the shuttlebunny -- and they accepted it. And from about the beginning of October through mid-May around here, dry or wet suits are generally required. At the very least paddlers must carry a drybag with a complete changed of clothing. Most local paddling takes place on streams so the bank is close. We carry extra pieces of clothing as a matter of course. Having written that, there are also a few clubs in this area who decline the use of a pfd. They consider it an infringement of their personal rights. Joe P. -----Original Message----- >From: Craig Jungers >Subject: [Paddlewise] Life Jackets Saves Lives in Cold Water Too > >Unfortunately, I was not surprised to receive this: > >"WASHINGTON- The best way to survive an accidental cold water immersion is >to wear a life jacket. " > >While the best way to remain afloat is probably to wear a life ja.... er.... >PF...... oops... "life jacket" it's clearly - CLEARLY - not the best way to >avoid hypothermia if you become immersed in cold water. Your press release >has not one single word to indicate that protective clothing is recommended. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
On Tue, Feb 8, 2011 at 8:24 AM, Joe P. <jpylka_at_earthlink.net> wrote: > One difficult task is get get a lot of boaters and/or officials simply > to accept the use of lifejacket at all. > Oh, I agree. It's an uphill battle. But to put out a bulletin saying that a PFD is the best way to avoid dying in cold water without even a mention of suitable clothing is irresponsible and thats what caused me to write the reply. PFDs are important - hell, mine cost $200 - but all they do is help keep you afloat; they don't protect you from cold water. Of course, it makes recovery of the body much easier. Craig Jungers Moses Lake, WA www.nwkakyaking.net *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
While it may not be the whole story, a PFD is the best way to avoid dying in cold water. When it comes down to it, most swims are close to shore or there is help nearby and all that is really needed is the swimmer stay above water long enough to get to shore or get some help. There certainly is a significant percentage of incidents where this is not the case, but all survival starts with the victim staying afloat. The reason to say a PFD is the best way to stay alive is because it really is. It's not the only way, but it is the best. On Feb 8, 2011, at 12:45 PM, Craig Jungers wrote: > Oh, I agree. It's an uphill battle. But to put out a bulletin saying that a > PFD is the best way to avoid dying in cold water without even a mention of > suitable clothing is irresponsible and thats what caused me to write the > reply. Nick Schade Guillemot Kayaks 54 South Rd Groton, CT 06340 USA Ph/Fx: (860) 659-8847 http://www.guillemot-kayaks.com/ *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Craig Further to your campaign to explore the effectiveness of changing the simple official message that wearing a pfd / life-jacket will save some cold-water boating deaths... Interesting to see some research being done in a branch of cold-water sport that may have escaped our attention. This is from the professional (U of Manitoba) website for Dr Giesbrecht (the guy behind the Cold Water Boot Camp videos). http://www.umanitoba.ca/faculties/kinrec/research/people/giesbrecht.html Getting That Sinking Feeling - The importance of proper outerwear to keep you afloat and alive when snowmobiling (Low Res - 3.8 MB) (High Res - 123 MB) Best Regards Paul Hayward, Auckland, New Zealand *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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