As Northerners, we are often on the ice SA国际影视传媒� driving, snowmobiling, skiing, or hiking. We are aware of the dangers of falling through thin ice and thread carefully.
But accidents happen from time to time, even to the best of us. If this happens to you, what should you do?Your best chance of survival is to remember the 1-10-1 formula, popularized by Dr. Gordon Giesbrecht who studies the effects of extreme environments, including cold, heat, and hypoxia on the human body at the University of Manitoba (otherwise known as Professor Popsicle). HeSA国际影视传媒檚 learned from his research that most people who fall through the ice die from drowning rather than hypothermia.
Typically the cold-shock response from your body as it hits cold water is to take a big gasp of air followed by hyperventilation.
If your head is underwater during this big gasp youSA国际影视传媒檒l inhale water and could drown right away. Therefore the immediate concern if you fall through the ice is to keep your head above water and get your breathing under control, which usually takes about one minute.
Once your breathing is under control, most folks have 10 minutes of meaningful effort to get out of the water before incapacitation from loss of energy and lack of motor function in the limbs.
In order to use these minutes wisely, try to get back to the same place you went in because that ice was holding you right before you went in.
A common mistake most people make is to try to pull themselves straight out of the water, which is difficult and may break the ice. Instead, swim to the edge of the ice, stomach down, and raise your arms out and on the ice.
Next, float your legs as close to the waterSA国际影视传媒檚 surface behind you, which helps spread out your body weight by getting horizontal. Now use strong kicking motions and your arms to pull yourself forward on to the ice, like a seal.
Once out of the water on the ice, roll away from the hole and do not crawl or stand up until well away from the weak ice where you fell in.
If you are unable to pull yourself out of the water in 10 minutes, youSA国际影视传媒檒l likely be too weak to get out without help.
ItSA国际影视传媒檚 really important to know at this point you have at worst about 1 hour before you die from hypothermia. The goal now is too stay alive in the water long enough for help to arrive, to widen the time for a rescue.
Save heat by trying to get as much of your upper body out of the water and remaining still. Not only will you lose less heat in the air than the water (even if itSA国际影视传媒檚 windy), itSA国际影视传媒檚 a good thing if your arms and upper body freeze to the ice because that way your head will remain above water even if you lose consciousness.
Hopefully help will arrive before your core body temperature drops to a point where your heart stops beating.
Even if your heart stops beating, the cold may preserve your oxygen-deprived brain and vital organs for longer than normal.
A Norwegian skier named Anna Bagenholm, fell through the ice in 1999, and made a full recovery after going for 40 minutes without oxygen and having a core body temperature of 13.7掳C.
Dan Wong is the owner of Jackpine Paddle, a northern adventure company offering canoe training, youth camps, and kayak tours. He can be reached at: jackpinepaddle.com.
