Boat hire

[Andrew]

Life jacket or not in the north sea, whats the life expentency of a person in the water before hypothermia sets in ?

[Sportsman]

Life jacket or not in the north sea, whats the life expentency of a person in the water before hypothermia sets in ?

 

Anywhere from 20 minutes to 12 hours, depending on what you are wearing and your training

[Clifftop]

Life jacket or not in the north sea, whats the life expentency of a person in the water before hypothermia sets in ?

 

 

i had a mate who worked the rigs up in the Shetlands, he was told in winter if you go over you have four minutes max.

 

Iread some report of that rig that went down in the North sea years ago. it said most of the deaths was caused by the icy waters freezing their throat

and so they couldn't breath

[Andrew]

And how many have died with life saving equipment on ? thru hypothermia as opposed to not having it on ?

 

My dad was a deep sea seaman in his youth, lifejackets, pah whats the use of those, the bloody sharks will get you, better off dead than a live meal for the buggers he used to tell me.

 

I NEVER wore a life jacket, or any other life saving device, but you can bet yer boot i knew where they werebefore i boarded any charter boat.

 

EVERY one i have been on has had the full range of life saving equipment. Its my choice not to wear a device, like its other peoples choice to cross the road.

[Sportsman]

i had a mate who worked the rigs up in the Shetlands, he was told in winter if you go over you have four minutes max.

 

Iread some report of that rig that went down in the North sea years ago. it said most of the deaths was caused by the icy waters freezing their throat

and so they couldn't breath

 

Sorry Clifftop but what your mate was told is just not true although it was repeated often enough.

As for the second one about icy water freezing the throat that is complete nonsense.

Do you know which rig he was referring to, there haven't been that many.

 

A few facts about cold water immersion

 

 

When you fall into cold water various things will happen. Adrenaline release will make your heart beat much faster and your breathing rate increase. When you hit the water the blood vessels in your skin constrict to divert blood to your core.

These factors have the effect of causing a massive and sudden rise in blood pressure., Sufficient to cause damage to blood vessels in the brain or the heart, unconsciousness and sudden death.

Another problem is the sudden intake of breath as you hit the cold water. There is a grave risk of inhaling water. To protect the lungs the back of the throat or larynx goes into spasm. This stops any water entering the lungs, unfortunately it also stops any air entering the lungs so you still die. So-called dry drowning.

These factors are lumped together under the heading of cold shock so if you fall into cold water you may die quickly but it won't be hypothermia that kills you.

Proper training can help against the dangers of cold shock as can good clothing to prevent cold water splashing on the skin.

If you survive the first few minutes then drowning becomes a problem. This is made much more likely if you're not wearing a life jacket. Cold muscles in the arms and legs mean that swimming becomes difficult and you lose the ability to protect your airway.

It is only with the passage of time that hypothermia becomes a problem and how quickly this happens depends on how well you are insulated from the cold water.

Fat people will last longer than thin people. Well-dressed people will last longer than underdressed people. The real trick though is keeping dry. A dry suit or immersion suit with good thermal clothing underneath means that you could survive typical North Sea temperatures for up to 12 hours and if you are also wearing a life jacket is then you are much more likely to survive.

A flotation suit is not a dry suit so hypothermia may start within an hour or two. Less if you are not wearing much underneath it.

Ordinary clothing and you are not looking much over 20 to 30 min.

The trick is to survive the first few minutes and then make it as easy as possible to be rescued

Edited October 27, 2012 by Sportsman

[Sportsman]

And how many have died with life saving equipment on ? thru hypothermia as opposed to not having it on ?

 

My dad was a deep sea seaman in his youth, lifejackets, pah whats the use of those, the bloody sharks will get you, better off dead than a live meal for the buggers he used to tell me.

 

I NEVER wore a life jacket, or any other life saving device, but you can bet yer boot i knew where they werebefore i boarded any charter boat.

 

EVERY one i have been on has had the full range of life saving equipment. Its my choice not to wear a device, like its other peoples choice to cross the road.

 

Now why doesn't that surprise me

[Steve Burke]

Sportsman, we can lead a horse to water but we can't make it drink.

 

Whilst manyimage conscious macho men here will ignore the advice hopefully sufficient of those who don't comment will heed it. And of course this topic will be read by many visitors over many years. If just one life is saved it'll have been worthwhile.

[Sportsman]

Sportsman, we can lead a horse to water but we can't make it drink.

 

Whilst manyimage conscious macho men here will ignore the advice hopefully sufficient of those who don't comment will heed it. And of course this topic will be read by many visitors over many years. If just one life is saved it'll have been worthwhile.

 

Steve

the reason that I responded to individuals I wouldn't normally respond to was not for their sake, I could care less, but for the sake of others who will read this. I would not want the ignorant and ill informed nonsense to go unchallenged.

[Clifftop]

Steve

the reason that I responded to individuals I wouldn't normally respond to was not for their sake, I could care less, but for the sake of others who will read this. I would not want the ignorant and ill informed nonsense to go unchallenged.

 

 

ooo i've not been called that for a long time

[Ken L]

i had a mate who worked the rigs up in the Shetlands, he was told in winter if you go over you have four minutes max.

 

Iread some report of that rig that went down in the North sea years ago. it said most of the deaths was caused by the icy waters freezing their throat

and so they couldn't breath

 

Sounds like a lay mans description of the mammalian dive reflex. You get dumped into water and you will gasp and breath-thold involuntarily and then your heart will slow down. The effect is stronger in cold water or with infants and, yes, it would feel like the cold shock was preventing you from breathing. You would breath though and rapid shallow breaths would be typical of the reflex response and that makes swimming more difficult.