The Woodsman's Journal Online: May 2024

Sunday, May 12, 2024

How Long Would You Last? Part Three©

As you struggle to get your breathing under control in the first minute after, the thoughts race through your mind, “I’m in thewater!”, “cold! cold! cold!”, “what do I do?”.

Okay, you’ve survived “cold shock”, and the first thirty seconds to three minutes of cold water immersion¹, (for more on “cold shock” read “How Long Would You Last? Part Two©”, HERE), so how do you survive the next ten minutes?

“Incapacitation” - - You have 10 minutes to rescue yourself...

At any water temperature below 86° F (30° C) your body will lose more heat it produces.² As the minutes tick away, so does your body heat, the colder the water the faster the heat loss, and you will begin to experience “cold incapacitation”. You have ten minutes before you will experience a loss of manual dexterity and strength, as the cold water renders your limbs, and especially your hands, numb and useless. By the time ten minutes has passed you will not be able to take any meaningful actions rescue yourself.

To understand how quickly useless your hands can become numb and useless, try this experiment – plunge one of your hands into a pitcher of ice water for two full minutes and then try to undo a button on your shirt.

After first falling into cold water, your number one priority is to protect your airways from water inhalation, until your breathing stabilizes and your gasping stops. This means STAY CALM and keep your head and face above water and shielded from waves (by putting your back to the waves), until the heavy gasping, rapid breathing, increased blood pressure and heart rate have a chance to lessen. Once the gasping and other symptoms of “cold shock” have subsided and breathing is near normal, you need to make a plan to survive.

According to researcher Michel DuCharme, your number two priority “...is not to preserve body heat, but to move out of the water as quickly as possible”³. This means that you must quickly analyze your situation and decide if you can rescue yourself by swimming to shore, or to a stable floating object and get out of the water, or whether you will have to stay put and wait for rescuers to arrive.

If you are near shore or to a stable floating object, are not drifting away faster than you can swim, rapid rescue is unlikely and you are wearing a life jacket, then swimming might be an option. On the other hand, if you are far from shore or a stable floating object, you are drifting faster than you can swim, rapid rescue is likely, or you aren’t wearing a life jacket, then staying put might be your best option.

Remember, incapacitation and the loss of dexterity and muscle strength in your limbs will limit your ability to self-rescue, so you make a plan and take action fast!

“You have 10 minutes of meaningful movement where you will realistically be able to get yourself out of the water.”⁴

Getting out of the water, by swimming...

Okay, you have decided to swim to the shore or to something that you can get out of the water onto. But remember, any movement, struggling or physical activity such as swimming, treading water increases heat loss. If you are treading water or swimming, Coast Guard studies have shown that this will increase the cooling of your body by 35% as warm blood is pumped to arms and legs⁵. In water under 40°F (4° C), some swimmers have died before swimming 100 feet (12 m) and even strong swimmers without life jackets have died before swimming 100 yards (91 m)⁶.

However, researcher M. Tipton, among others, has found that swimmers wearing a flotation device were able to swim over 900 yards (889 m) in 57° F (14° C) water and over 700 yards (650 m) in 50° F (10° C) water. And in fact, according to the Canadian Red Cross more survivors of boat sinkings, swam for shore than stayed with the boat⁷.

Some survivors of sinkings are reluctant to leave the water because they are concerned about wind chill. Wind chill is a problem, however exposed flesh will not freeze at temperatures above 32° F (0° C) no matter how high the wind velocity, so get out of the water⁸.

So, unless the shore, or a floating object that you can climb onto get out the water is very near, don’t swim. And if you do try to swim for it keep your head out of the water, immersing your head increases cooling rates by up to 82%.⁹

Okay, you’ve decided to stay put and wait for rescue, how long can you survive? Don’t forget to come back next week and read “How Long Would You Last? Part Four©”, to find out.

I hope that you continue to enjoy The Woodsman’s Journal Online and look for me on YouTube at BandanaMan Productions for other related videos, HERE. Don’t forget to follow me on both The Woodsman’s Journal Online, HERE, and subscribe to BandanaMan Productions on YouTube. If you have questions, as always, feel free to leave a comment on either site. I announce new articles on Facebook at Eric Reynolds, on Instagram at bandanamanaproductions, and on VK at Eric Reynolds, so watch for me.

That is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!

Notes

¹ “Researchers have found that the involuntary gasping reflex and loss of breathing control peaks within 30 seconds of being exposed to cold water and can last up to three minutes”, from “Use the 100 Degree Rule”, by gobair.org

² Drownings and other water-related injuries in Canada, by Red Cross Canada

³ Ibid.

⁴. “How to survive a fall through the ice”, by Rena Sarigianopoulos.

⁵ “So, Let Me Get This Straight-High Body Fat is a Good Thing?”, by Capt. Greg Parchman

⁶ “Cold Water”, by Gobair.org

⁷ Drownings and other water-related injuries in Canada, by Red Cross Canada

⁸ “Cold Water Immersion”, by SSGT William C. Joiner

⁹ “So, Let Me Get This Straight-High Body Fat is a Good Thing?”, by Capt. Greg Parchman

Sources

Auerbach, Paul S.; “Wilderness Medicine E-Book”, page 1502, https://books.google.com/books?id=tdTInPqMCjMC&pg=PA1502&dq=able+to+swim+approximately+800+m+in+10+%C2%B0C&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjKm-KUg_OFAxXbLFkFHbNBBvwQ6AF6BAgLEAI#v=onepage&q=able%20to%20swim%20approximately%20800%20m%20in%2010%20%C2%B0C&f=false, accessed May 3, 2024

Ferrell, Jesse; “Weather maps from the night the Titanic sank”, AccuWeather, April 12, 2022, https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-blogs/weathermatrix/weather-maps-from-the-night-the-titanic-sank/1173542#:~:text=Although%20the%20weather%20itself%20didn,certainly%20contributed%20to%20the%20tragedy, accessed April 27, 2024

Hamilton, Terry; “Hypothermia is a Major Cause of Winter Drowning Deaths”, Spartanburg Herald-Journal, Dec 8, 1979, page B-9, https://books.google.com/books?id=Wm0sAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA30&dq=survival+shelter+lost&article_id=6980,2137795&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjD49-L7vGFAxWrD1kFHRj8D9E4UBDoAXoECAUQAg#v=onepage&q=survival%20shelter%20lost&f=false, accessed May 3, 2024

Gobair.org; “Cold Water”, https://www.gobair.org/Resources/Documents/Cold_Water.pdf, accessed May 11, 2024

Joiner, William C. SSGT; “Cold Water Immersion”, Aerospace Safety, United States Air Force, Volumes 34, Number 1, January 1978, page 6 to 7, https://books.google.com/books?id=BDf0AAAAMAAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&printsec=frontcover&pg=RA12-PA7&dq=water+chill+without+anti+exposure+suit&hl=en#v=onepage&q=water%20chill%20without%20anti%20exposure%20suit&f=false, accessed April 24, 2024

Kalkomey Enterprises, LLC; “Stages 1 and 2 of Cold Water Immersion”, [© 1998–2024], https://www.boat-ed.com/canada/studyGuide/Stages-1-and-2-of-Cold-Water-Immersion/10119902_114125/, accessed April 27, 2024

Mathews, Blake; “How weather helped sink the Titanic”, April 10, 2018, https://www.khou.com/article/news/local/how-weather-helped-sink-the-titanic/285-537036316#:~:text=The%20lookouts%20along%20with%20the,lethal%20temperature%20for%20any%20person, accessed April 27, 2024

Moore, Maggie; “From the archives: Heroes pull people from icy Potomac after 1982 jet crash”, January 12, 2024, Channel 4 Washington, [© 2024 NBCUniversal Media, LLC.], https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/from-the-archives-heroes-pull-people-from-icy-potomac-after-1982-jet-crash/3513565/, accessed May 11, 2024

Navigation Center; “How Large Was The Iceberg That Sank The Titanic”, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, United States Coast Guard, https://web.archive.org/web/20140105034754/http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/?pageName=iipHowLargeWasTheIcebergThatSankTheTITANIC, accessed April 27, 2024

Parchman, Greg, Capt.; “So, Let Me Get This Straight-High Body Fat is a Good Thing?”, Approach, Volume 41, Issue 2, March -April, 1996, page 18 to 20, https://books.google.com/books?id=LQNQRzJjOoQC&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&printsec=frontcover&pg=PA20&dq=water+chill+without+anti+exposure+suit&hl=en#v=onepage&q=water%20chill%20without%20anti%20exposure%20suit&f=false, accessed April 24, 2024

Red Cross Canada; Drownings and other water-related injuries in Canada, [© The Canadian Red Cross Society, 2006], https://www.redcross.ca/crc/documents/3-3-4_ws_final_m2_english2006_04_19.pdf, accessed May 11, 2024

Titanic Inquiry Project; “United States Senate Inquiry: Day 4 - Testimony of Herbert J. Pitman”, [Copyright © 1998-2017: Titanic Inquiry Project], https://www.titanicinquiry.org/USInq/AmInq04Pitman03.php, accessed April 27, 2024

United State Coast Guard; “Cold Water Survival & Hypothermia–You May Not Know As Much As You Think”, https://www.dco.uscg.mil/Portals/9/DCO%20Documents/5p/CG-5PC/CG-CVC/CVC3/notice/flyers/Cold_Water_Survival_Hypothermia.pdf, accessed April 27, 2024

Warren, Elizabeth G., SSGT; “Hypothermia: Missing in the Atlantic”, Flying Safety, November 1983, pages 12 to 15, https://www.safety.af.mil/Portals/71/documents/Magazines/FSM/1980s/198311%20-%20FlyingSafetyMagazine.pdf, accessed May 4, 2024

Wikimedia; “Jack Thayers description of the sinking of RMS Titanic”, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Thayer-Sketch-of-Titanic.png, accessed April 27, 2024

Wikimedia; “The iceberg suspected of having sunk the RMS Titanic”, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Titanic_iceberg.jpg, accessed April 27, 2024

Sunday, May 5, 2024

How Long Would You Last? Part Two©

Last week we talked about how, on April 15th, 1912, the RMS Titanic sank. The water temperature that night was just above 28^o F (-2^o C) and the RMS Carpathia arrived to rescue the survivors within just an hour and fifty minutes, but of the approximately 2,200 people aboard the ship that night, only about 700 survived, even though they all had life preservers!

Cold water kills! Human deaths from cold water immersion (cold water is considered to be any water below the temperature of 59^o F, or 15^o C), are seldom caused by actual hypothermia. Instead over half of all deaths are caused by the first two stages of cold water death; “cold shock” and then “incapacitation”, a near term symptom of mild hypothermia, which “causes them to lose their physical and mental ability to survive”¹, causing swimmers to become weak and unable to help or rescue themselves.

Cold water death

“Cold Shock” - - You have 1 minute to control your breathing...

The human body’s immediate response to immersion in cold water is called “cold shock” and can occur at any water temperature below
77^o F (25^o C). The severity of the “cold shock” you experience is directly proportional to the temperature of the water – the colder the water temperature, the greater the shock. In water temperatures of 35^o F (2^o C) and below you will suffer intense pain and severe shock on first plunging into the water.

On initial immersion, “cold shock” will cause you to take an involuntary and uncontrollable large gasp, followed by hyperventilation and the inability to hold your breath during the first one to three minutes of immersion, this can cause water inhalation and drowning. There is also a massive increase in your heart rate and blood pressure, which can cause cardiac issues and death. Your chance of death within the first few minutes of immersion in cold water is dependent on your overall health and body type AND whether you are wearing a life jacket or not.

Wearing a life jacket will keep your head above water during those first moments of “cold shock” and allow you time to control your breathing and keep your head above the water. If your head is below the surface, those first gasps will suck in water and less than ½ a cup (120 ml) will drown you!

“You have one minute to get your breathing under control and get your wits about you.”²

Okay, you’ve survived the first minute, you’ve gotten your panic and breathing under control, and haven’t drowned...yet! But what do you do to prevent the second stage of cold water death, “incapacitation”, from killing you in the next ten minutes? Don’t forget to come back next week and read “How Long Would You Last? Part Three©”, to find out.

That is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!

Notes

¹ Cold Water Survival & Hypothermia – you May Not Know As Much As You Think”, by The United State Coast Guard.

² “How to survive a fall through the ice”, by Rena Sarigianopoulos.

Sources

Wikimedia; “Jack Thayers description of the sinking of RMS Titanic”, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Thayer-Sketch-of-Titanic.png, accessed April 27, 2024

Wikimedia; “The iceberg suspected of having sunk the RMS Titanic”, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Titanic_iceberg.jpg, accessed April 27, 2024

About Me

I live near Buffalo, New York and have more than 25 years of experience in the outdoors. I enjoy being in the wilderness, paddling a canoe or exploring the woods, when I am not researching survival, woodcraft, camping skills or life on the Old Northwest Frontier of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. I am a published author and I have been a guide for Birchbark Expeditions and an Outdoor Skills trainer for the Boy Scouts since 2014. I am also a martial artist, having studied several different combat arts over the past 30 years. Currently, I am the author of The Woodsman’s Journal Online and BandanaMan Productions on YouTube.

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Sunday, May 12, 2024

How Long Would You Last? Part Three©

Sunday, May 5, 2024

How Long Would You Last? Part Two©

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