|
|
Posts: 718
| Guys, I put this together from various sources...water was 59 degrees today....
Cold Water Survival For The Fisherman
Cold water robs heat from the body 32 times faster than the air. You should always consider wearing a lifejacket in the cold water seasons. Dress for the temperature of the water, not the air. Don’t cinch up wrists and legs of your rain coat etc, because water will fill them and pull you down. Should you fall in, avoid panic. Your swimming ability in warm water has no relationship to your swimming ability in cold water. Despite what you have been told, it is impossible to die from hypothermia in cold water unless you are wearing a life jacket. Simply put, without one you will not live long enough to become hypothermic. You will almost certainly drown first. A strong swimmer in warm water can die before swimming 100 ft in 40 degree water.
Falling into cold water often results in a deep and sudden gasp, followed by hyperventilation. During the first minutes of submersion it is critical to keep your airway clear. Physical exercise causes the body to lose heat at a much faster rate than remaining still because blood is pumped to the extremities and quickly cooled. Air trapped in clothing can provide buoyancy as long as you remain still. Swimming or treading water can reduce survival time by 50 percent.
There are four stages of cold water immersion that can kill you. 1.Cold Water Shock-You can’t breathe and drown or have cardiac arrest(0-5 minutes) 2. Cold Incapacitation- You can’t swim and can’t help yourself (2-30 minutes) 3. Hypothermia- deep body core cooling resulting in unconsciousness and drowning (60 minutes plus of immersion depending on water temp-without a lifejacket you won’t make it to this point) 4. Post Rescue Collapse-circulatory collapse resulting in cardiac arrest. (kills you at point of rescue or hours after rescue)
Whether you are by yourself, or with others who are still in the boat, don’t wait for a professional team to arrive, you will die waiting in cold water. Attempt the best rescue you can. You will have only minutes before you lose effective use of your fingers, arms or legs in any meaningful rescue motion. Try and get out as soon as possible to keep the water from pulling your heat away. If your boat has overturned, try and get on top of it.
If you are still in the boat, and your friend is the one in the water, do not jump in. If you are the rescuer have someone post a lookout to never take their eyes off the victim. Have a throw able device with a rope at the ready if they drift from the boat. Get a hold of the person ASAP and depending on the size of the boat, and the gunnels height, you should attempt to either roll them over the side, or pull them over the transom with the assistance of a mounted ladder, etc. Don’t expect much help from the victim. The victim maybe incapacitated to some degree, even if only by fright, and may even be unconscious. The weight of their body, plus weight of the clothing may make rescue very difficult, even if the victim is capable of helping.
If you are in the water and a rescue is not immediate, take these precautions: Cover your nose and mouth if possible to prevent aspiration of water. Float in the sitting position with the legs drawn up, knees together and with ankles crossed. Place arms against the sides of the torso, bent at the elbows and across the chest. Remain calm and think clearly. Leave all clothing on. Keep your head above water, and if with more than one person, huddle to share heat and await rescue. Pulling your legs and arms in like mentioned can reduce heat loss by 60%. Hang on to whatever floating object you can.
If you are the rescuer and the person has been pulled from the water, you are only half done saving the person’s life. The big risk now is hypothermia. You should always carry warm dry clothes and blankets to assist with this.
Treatment of hypothermia will vary depending on the severity. Mild hypothermia victims who show only shivering and are capable of rational conversation may only require removal of wet clothes and replacement with dry ones and blankets. In more severe cases where the person is semi conscious, steps must be carefully taken to begin the re-warming process. First, get the person out of the cold and keep the body temperature from decreasing further. Remove the wet clothes and replace with dry ones, only if minimal movement to the person occurs. Don’t forget to cover the neck and head because that is where heat escapes the most. DO NOT massage their extremities.
Concentrate on warming the victim’s core. Lay a semi conscious person face up, with head slightly lowered unless vomiting occurs. If available, place the victim in a bath of about 105 to 110 degrees F. Do not put their legs and arms in the water. This can cause ‘after drop’. After drop occurs when cold blood in the limbs is forced back into the body resulting in a further lowering of the core temperature. This can be fatal. If a tub is not available, apply hot and wet towels or blankets to the victims head, neck, chest groin and abdomen. Do not warm the arms or legs. If nothing else available a rescuer can use their own body heat to help warm the victim.
If a victim requests a beverage, offer warm water, milk or juice. Never give alcohol or stimulants such as coffee, tea or cocoa. Foods high in carbohydrates such as honey or candy bars will help. Be safe this season!
|
|
| |
|
Posts: 32813
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | For certain. |
|
| |
|
| Important reminder. A couple of suggestions that were posted here a couple years ago by someone are worth repeating. In addition to proper clothing and a good PDF, if you are fishing by yourself trail a thick rope that has knots tied in it every foot or so. If you go out of the boat, you can grab the rope and the knots give you something to pull yourself back to the boat with, even with cold hands. Also, if you are too weak from the cold to climb back in the boat, drape yourelf over the big motor, and hit the tilt button on the motor. It will lift you out of the water and hopefully help you get into the boat. At the very least you will be out of the water. I actually tried this is in warm water and it worked as suggested. I hope I never need to use for real. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 2752
Location: Mauston, Wisconsin | Some great stuff! Mother Nature can be very unforgiving, especially when its cold. Thanks guys, all great advice if you wind up in the water! Seems like every year we hear about someone who was fishing alone that didn't make it, even very experienced muskie fisherman.
Be safe!
Al |
|
| |
|
Posts: 458
| Good info and here is a video with more information:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1xohI3B4Uc
|
|
| |
|
Posts: 1360
Location: Lake "y" cause lake"x" got over fished | Thank you for the post, great information. Some I knew and some not, glad I read it. Everyone be safe with the waters getting colder |
|
| |
|
| Another tip I always keep a fast burning kindling bundle in my boats in case I take the plunge in freezing water. I chop kindling and wrap it in newspaper slathered in vasoline then wrap the bundle in several trash bags so it is waterproof and also bouyant. This way you'll have a quick fire in a potentially life threatining situation. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 128
| Was about ][ that close to falling into Webster a few years back. Bundled up, windy, water temps about 42 deg.
I was by myself, and I couldn't get the Powerdrive out of the mount and into the water. Was frustrated, so I gave it a kick, and that leg went right over the side.
I didn't realize at the time how screwed I would have been if I went in. STAY SAFE! |
|
| |
|
Posts: 127
| sworrall - 9/26/2012 8:51 PM
For shizzle.
ftfy, lol  |
|
| |
|
Posts: 1887
Location: syracuse indiana | thats some real good info jon, hope you dont mind i am gonna repost this on the clubs website. our members need to know these things...bill |
|
| |
|
Posts: 34
| This is great advice - thanks for posting. I was in a float tube that sunk in the middle of a lake duck hunting several years ago. Late October and COLD in northern MN. I swam to shore clutching a decoy bag and floating gun case. Still not sure how I survived. Nothing can prepare you for that kind of cold! |
|
| |
|
Posts: 1529
| Great topic. Here on the great lakes many folks purchase survival suits for fall fishing. They keep you warm and will save your life. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 63
| Great post, it was very informative!!
Thanks!! |
|
| |
