subject: How To Survive In Cold Water [print this page] Making sure that you put safety first when you are sailing could keep you and your crew safe and dry.
If something should happen to either yourself or, a member of your party or crew, it is important to know how to react. Surviving in cold water can prove fatal, but understanding how to survive could save yours or, someone else's, life.
Cold water is usually defined at under 70 degrees, but this can depend on the person involved as everyone's body will react differently.
It is a common misconception that the main threat of someone in cold water is hypothermia. It is in fact drowning.
So, what happens to the body in cold water?
Once the body hits the cold water it will initially go into shock. This shock will be combined with panic as it struggles to breathe in a regular fashion. One of the main threats from the start is a heart attack as the sheer shock of being immersed in cold water can induce a cardiac arrest.
Disorientation can also occur as the shock takes over. After a period of time, which is dependent on the temperature of the particular waters you are in, hypothermia will set in. This will cause the person involved to be in extreme pain which, will limit them from thinking rationally, and they will also find it difficult to process orders.
How to survive in cold water
The body temperature is normally at 98.6 degrees. Once a person is immersed in cold water that temperature plummets as the body rapidly loses heat. The main aim in survival is to get out of the cold water as quickly as possible.
If you own a boat you should know exactly what to do should the unfortunate incident arise.
Here are some tips on how to survive the cold water.
If you are close to the boat try and get back in.
Try hard not to panic - you will need to retain as much energy as possible.
Try not to move rapidly as the body will lose heat quicker.
If several people fall in huddle together to preserve body heat.
If it is too far to swim adopt a body posture that will help you to conserve heat.
It is important to make sure that you are properly prepared for any incident that may occur whilst out on your boat. To ensure that you are fully prepared for an incident such as falling into cold water make sure that you and your boat are fully equipped.
Handy preparation tips
Wear warm clothes. A wet suit will help you to retain as much body heat in the cold water. Where a wet suit is not possible wool is the next best thing.
Always have a life jacket on. This will keep you afloat and reduce the panic should you fall into cold waters.
Wear several layers of clothing to offer you maximum protection to the cold water.
Always check the weather forecast.
Always have a blanket on board. One final piece of advice is first aid training. If you or someone on board has first aid training you could save someone's life. Once you have taken the victim out of the water remove their wet clothes and replace them with dry clothes. The aim is to get their core temperature to rise so concentrate on keeping their head, chest and abdomen warm as these are the core areas. Another persons body heat can help to warm up a hypothermic person.
Remember these survival tips for cold water and you may save yours or someone else's life.
