Post
by dan valovich » Thu May 28, 2009 7:04 am
With tubing I would be more concerned about hypothermia. this spring has not been warm and the water is still cold
Hypothermia is a condition that exists when the body’s temperature drops below ninety-five degrees. This can be caused by exposure to water or air. The loss of body heat results in loss of dexterity, loss of consciousness, and eventually loss of life. A few minutes in cold water makes it very difficult to swim, even to keep yourself afloat. In addition, a sudden, unexpected entry into cold water may cause a reflexive "gasp" allowing water to enter the lungs. Drowning can be almost instantaneous.
Your body can cool down 25 times faster in cold water than in air. If you examine the chart below you will see that survival time can be as short as 15 minutes. Water temperature, body size, amount of body fat, and movement in the water all play a part in cold water survival. Small people cool faster than large people and children cool faster than adults.
PFDs can help you stay alive longer in cold water. You can float without using energy and they cover part of your body thereby providing some protection from the cold water. When boating in cold water you should consider using a flotation coat or deck-suit style PFD. They cover more of your body and provide even more protection.
Hypothermia does not only occur in extremely cold water. It can, and does, occur even in the warmer waters of Florida and the Bahamas.
Hypothermia Chart
If the Water
Temp. (F) is:
Exhaustion or
Unconsciousness
Expected Time
of Survival is:
32.5 Under 15 min.
Under 15 - 45 min.
32.5 - 40
15 - 30 min.
30 - 90 min
40 - 50
30 - 60 min.
1 - 3 hours
50 - 60
1 - 2 hours
1 - 6 hours
60 - 70
2 - 7 hours
2 - 40 hours
70 - 80
3 - 12 hours
3 - Indefinite
Over 80
Indefinite
Indefinite
Hypothermia is progressive - the body passes through several stages before an individual lapses into an unconscious state. The extent of a person’s hypothermia can be determined from the following:
1. Mild Hypothermia - the person feels cold, has violent shivering and slurred speech.
2. Medium Hypothermia - the person has a certain loss of muscle control, drowsiness, incoherence, stupor and exhaustion.
3. Severe Hypothermia - the person collapses and is unconscious and shows signs of respiratory distress and/or cardiac arrest probably leading to death.
Conservation of heat is the foremost objective for a person in the water. To accomplish this, limit body movement. Don't swim unless you can reach a nearby boat or floating object. Swimming lowers your body temperature and even good swimmers can drown in cold water.
If you can pull yourself partially out of the water - do so. The more of your body that is out of the water (on top of an over-turned boat or anything that floats), the less heat you will lose. Especially keep your head out of the water if at all possible - this will lessen heat loss and increase survival time.
to say the least when she found out that her husband had not arranged transportation. They were lucky we were still there because the last outfitter bus had just left. We gave him ride back to the Point while she and the boys remained at Rush. 
I called and they do offer a shorter trip for tubes, so that makes me feel much better.
