Althouse: What if you fall through the ice?

January 6, 2011

What if you fall through the ice?

Let hypothermia expert Professor Gordon Giesbrecht show you:

More here.

15 comments:

Bob Ellison said...: That announcer looks like Jane Pauley c. 1980.; 1/6/11, 10:42 AM
Scott M said...: You wake up in the year 3000 and get a job as an interstellar package delivery worker. You gotta do what you gotta do.; 1/6/11, 10:42 AM
TWM said...: I'd be more worried about a broken hip than falling through the ice.; 1/6/11, 10:42 AM
Phil 314 said...: First, unplug the extension cord!; 1/6/11, 10:54 AM
SteveR said...: Another job Americans won't do; 1/6/11, 10:55 AM
Unknown said...: Remember, Madame, there is probably a difference between a 40 year old guy who demonstrates this on a regular basis and a 60 year old female conlawprof, who's in pretty good shape for someone her age but still leads a fairly sedate life.

Yes, we know that, as a woman, you have a bit more, uh, insulation than the Canadian guy, but we'd just as soon not have you put this to the test.; 1/6/11, 11:13 AM
Hagar said...: Don't lie there talking about it like this guy. Get out, and then run after Meade as hard as you can and try to kill him for getting you into this, which will help get you warm again and to get over the shock.; 1/6/11, 11:34 AM
Hoosier Daddy said...: Stay off the ice. That's how I avoid hypothermia.; 1/6/11, 11:57 AM
Hagar said...: Also note that for this demonstration, they sawed a square hole out of fairly thick ice, which is not going to be the situation where you go through. You are more apt to get panicky because the ice keeps breaking under you as you try to get back up onto the ice. Just keep your cool(!), and keep using your elbows to break the edge until you get to the thicker stuff and can scoot yourself onto it.; 1/6/11, 12:18 PM
Megaera said...: It's the initial gasping stage that's hard to get over -- especially if you have something else to do than just hang in there in still water. Spouse & I did quite a bit of white water canoeing and when you dump in cold water your immediate problem is getting you, your partner and your boat to the nearest shore -- usually easier said than done. We went over once in water so cold it was like a hit in the solar plexus coupled with instant exhaustion: every movement was like trying to run in frozen molasses. We got to shore, but we were both actually a bit uneasy for a couple minutes there. Very interesting footage; I'd like to see the second installment.
Wv: torent - what canoeists fall into who don't spell very well.; 1/6/11, 12:25 PM
traditionalguy said...: Thank God that I was born in Dixie on a frosty morn... not in a frozen tundra with glacier formed lakes.; 1/6/11, 12:39 PM
jjm said...: Very interesting stuff. Thanks!
Note - from the newsletter at the link
"2. Respect the Lake
99.5% of the time you cannot (I repeat; cannot!!!) sail the entire lake, shore to shore in all directions. Open water, thin ice, expansion cracks, ice heaves, river and creek inlets and outlets or springs are all just waiting to inflict harm to you and your boat."
Jim; 1/6/11, 2:21 PM
Megaera said...: Interesting. In the 3d installment the guy makes the same point I was talking about, quite directly: he goes in again with another guy who's wearing different snow-machine gear and they both have to swim 90 yards, IIRC -- the other guy makes it, he doesn't, has to be pulled in by the rescue/film crew, and he's very creeped out by the sensation, because he was nowhere near hypothermia, just purely, genuinely exhausted by a simple 90 yard swim, weighted down by his garments. If the crew hadn't been there he would have died, and he was fully aware of that, and you can see in his face what a sobering experience it is.; 1/6/11, 2:44 PM
The Dude said...: Giesbrecht is German for "ice break".; 1/6/11, 5:15 PM
save_the_rustbelt said...: Many years ago I went into ice water in a ditch to pull out a couple of my Scouts who were dumbasses. They could stand up on the bottom so there was no immediate danger of drowning, but there was no easy way out due to slippery ditch banks.

You can work in such water for ten minutes or so but I sure as hell do not recommend it. The old daddy parts really shrivel.

When I am going to be on ice for any amount of time I tape a large nail to both sleeves, the nails can be used to pull oneself out of the water.; 1/6/11, 7:04 PM