NYCkayaker weird and problematic article concerning cold weather activities in times

[rob buchanan]

On this same topic, here are a couple of tv news stories--longish but pretty
interesting--about a canadian doctor who intentionally falls through the
ice, once on skis and once on a snowmobile, and films the whole process. He
claims hypothermia doesn't happen suddenly, and certainly not as quickly as
people typically imagine, and offers lots of strategies for surviving such
incidents. (One example: if you fall in and can't summon the power to get
out, he advises, at least try to get your arms up on the ice and hold them
there long enough to freeze the sleeves of your jacket in place). I found
the whole thing pretty compelling, especially the teeth-chattering speeches
he makes while treading icy water.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysnKtuUTt8k

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyBVWrqvkEg



On 1/19/08 10:07 PM, "mike" <mpidel at optonline.net> wrote:

> 
> 
> http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/17/health/nutrition/17BEST.html?ei=5087&em=&e
> n=17c40be634b60f38&ex=1200805200&pagewanted=all
> http://tinyurl.com/38559l
> Dr. Noakes said that during Mr. Pugh's North Pole swim, hypothermia was a
> real concern. Hypothermia can happen suddenly in icy water, with the
> swimmer's core temperature plummeting, and the fear was that Mr. Pugh might
> pass out and sink before he could be rescued. Mr. Pugh, an experienced
> cold-water swimmer, was wearing a device to monitor his temperature, but
> nonetheless, Dr. Noakes was "petrified," he said.
> 
> The biggest risk of hypothermia comes with a combination of wet and cold.
> That is because water transfers heat from the body 70 times more efficiently
> than air.
> 
> Hypothermia begins to set in when the body's core temperature falls to 95
> degrees. That elicits shivering and a rise in blood pressure. But if your
> temperature drops to 85, you lose consciousness, and if it goes much lower,
> you can die. The trick to avoiding hypothermia is to keep moving, Dr. Noakes
> said. "As long as you keep moving you are not going to die because you
> generate so much heat."
> 
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