Kayaking Cold Water

November 15, 2:07 PMDetroit Kayaking ExaminerWilli Gutmann

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http://www.coldwaterbootcamp.com 

Dr. Gordon Giesbrecht aka "professor popsicle" studies kinesiology in Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada.
He is a dominant force for information about cold stress physiology and human hypothermia.
The professor save lives by aiding professional (EMS) emergency medical services,
as well as (SAR) Search and Rescue Agencies.

Your best chance of survival is to wear your lifevest  personal flotation device (pfd)

This a guy who walks it likes he talks it, conducting real-life tests on himself and volunteers.
Dr. Giesbrecht operates the Laboratory for Exercise and Environmental Medicine
where he studies human responses to exercise/work in extreme environments.
He personally lowered his entire body temperature below 95 degrees a mind numbing 33 times.

November water temperatures around Belle Isle this year are about 50 degree Fahrenheit.
Without thermal protection you can lose body heat 25 times faster in water than in air with similar temperatures. That can be increased by a factor of up to 10 with movement like swimming.

Dr Gordon Giesbrecht coined the phrase 1-10-1 .
First Minute 1 = deep sudden gasp, hyperventilation, panic
Next 10 minutes = lose use of fingers, arms, legs - swim failure imminent without PFD
Next Hour 1 = even in ice water, it may take up to an hour before becoming unconscious

http://www.coldwaterbootcamp.com/pages/downloads.html

 Even when the weather appears nice with temps in the 60's , be very, very aware of cold water.

Wear synthetic clothing like Polartec, Capilene, etc. as these do not hold water like cotton does.