Self-rescue swimming in cold water: The latest advice

Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism

Volumn 32, Issue 4, 2007, Pages 799-807

  Ducharme, Michel B ^a,b   Lounsbury, Adavid S ^b  

^a DEFENCE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CANADA   (Canada)

^b UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO   (Canada)

Author keywords

Cold shock; Drowning; HELP; Hypothermia; Insulation; Muscle fatigue; PFD; Rescue; Swimming distance; Swimming failure

Indexed keywords

WATER;

ACCIDENT; COLD; CONFERENCE PAPER; HUMAN; HYPOTHERMIA; IMMERSION; SELF CARE; SWIMMING;

ACCIDENTS; COLD; HUMANS; HYPOTHERMIA; IMMERSION; SELF CARE; SWIMMING; WATER;

EID: 34848916766     PISSN: 17155312     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1139/H07-042     Document Type: Conference Paper

References (50)

1. Alexander, L. 1946. The treatment of shock from prolonged exposure to cold, especially in water. Combined Intelligence Operatives Sub-Committee, Item No. 24. Office of the Publication Board, Department of Commerce, Washington, D.C.
2. Baird, R.W., and Burkhart, S.M. 2000. Bias and variability in distance estimation on the water: implications for the management of whale watching. Proceedings of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) Meeting, Document SC/52/WW1.
3. Bergh, U. 1980. Human power at subnormal body temperatures. Acta Physiol. Scand. 478: 1-39.
4. Blomstrand, E., Kaijser, L., Martinsson, A., Bergh, U., and Ekblom, B. 1986. Temperature-induced changes in metabolic and hormonal responses to intensive dynamic exercise. Acta Physiol. Scand. 127: 477-484.
5. Brooks, C.J., Howard, K.A., and Neifer, S.K. 2005. How much did cold shock and swimming failure contribute to drowning deaths in the fishing industry in British Columbia 1976-2002? Occup. Med. (Lond.), 55: 459-462. doi:10.1093/occmed/kqi063.
6. Doubt, T.J. 1991. Physiology of exercise in the cold. Sports Med. 11: 367-381.
7. Ducharme, M.B. 2005. Self-rescue during accidental cold-water immersion. Section 5.8: Rescue techniques: self-rescue. In Handbook on drowning, prevention, rescue, treatment. Edited by J.J.L.M. Bierens. pp. 232-235.
8. Ducharme, M.B., and Tikuisis, P. 1991. In vivo thermal conductivity of the human forearm tissue. J. Appl. Physiol. 70: 2682-2690.
9. Duffin, J., Miller, R., Romet, T.T., Chant, R.W., Ackles, K., and Goode, R.C. 1975. Sudden cold-water immersion. Respir. Physiol. 23: 301-310.
10. Golden, F., and Tipton, M. 2002. Essentials of sea survival. Human Kinetics, Champaign, Ill.
11. Hayward, M.G., and Keatinge, W.R. 1981. Roles of subcutaneous fat and thermoregulatory reflexes in determining ability to stabilize body temperature in water. J. Physiol. 320: 229-251.
12. Hayward, J.S., Collis, M., and Eckerson, J.D. 1973. Thermographic evaluation of relative heat loss areas of man during cold-water immersion. Aerosp. Med. 44: 708-711.
13. Hayward, J.S., Eckerson, J.D., and Collis, M.L. 1975a. Effect of behavioral variables on cooling rate of man in cold water. J. Appl. Physiol. 38: 1073-1077.
14. Hayward, J.S., Eckerson, J.D., and Collis, M.L. 1975b. Thermal balance and survival time prediction of man in cold water. Can. J. Physiol. Pharmacol. 53: 21-32.
15. Hayward, J.S., Hay, C., Matthews, B.R., Overwell, C.H., and Radford, D.D. 1984. Temperature effect on the human dive response in relation to cold water near-drowning. J. Appl. Physiol. 56: 202-206.
16. Keatinge, W.R. 1969. Survival in cold water. Blackwell Scientific, Oxford, UK.
17. Keatinge, W.R. 1972. Cold immersion and swimming. J. R. Nav. Med. Serv. 58: 171-176.
18. Keatinge, W.R., Prys-Roberts, C., Cooper, K.E., Honour, A.J., and Haight, J. 1969. Sudden failure of swimming in cold water. BMJ, 1: 480-483.
19. Keatinge, W.R., Khartchenkom, M., Lando, N., and Lioutov, V. 2001. Hypothermia during sports swimming in water below 11 degrees C. Br. J. Sports Med. 35: 352-353. doi:10.1136/bjsm.35.5.352.
20. Kenny, G.P., Reardon, F.D., and Ducharme, M.B. 2001. Physiological limitation to emergency swimming in cold water. DCIEM Contract Report CR 2001-026.
21. Kenny, G.P., Ducharme, M.B., Reardon, F.D., and Oksa, J. 2002. An evaluation of possible factors limiting cold water swimming distance. In Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Environmental Ergonomics, Sept 23-27, 2002, Fukuoka, Japan. Edited by Y. Tochichara and T. Ohnaka. Kyushy Institute of Design, Fukuoka, Japan. pp. 271-274.
22. Kirsch, R.F., and Rymer, W.Z. 1987. Neural compensation for muscular fatigue: evidence for significant force regulation in man. J. Neurophysiol. 57: 1893-1910.
23. Leach, J. 1994. Survival psychology. Palgrave MacMillan, Basingstoke, Hampshire, UK.
24. Lounsbury, D.S. 2004. Swimming survival - performance and judgement in cold water. M.Sc. thesis, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont.
25. Lounsbury, D.S., and Ducharme, M.B. 2005. Self-rescue strategies during accidental cold-water immersion: performance and thermal considerations. In Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Environmental Ergonomics, 22-26 May 2005 Ystad, Sweden. Edited by I. Holmer, K. Kuklane, and C. Gao. Lund University, Lund, Sweden, pp. 553-556.
26. Nadel, E.R., Holmer, I., Bergh, U., Astrand, P.-O., and Stolwijk, J.A.J. 1974. Energy exchanges of swimming man. J. Appl. Physiol. 36: 465-471.
27. Noakes, T.D. 2000. Exercise in the cold. Ergonomics, 43: 1461-1479. doi:10.1080/001401300750003907.
28. Oksa, J., Ducharme, M.B., and Rintamaki, H. 2002. Combined effect of repetitive work and cold on muscle function and fatigue. J. Appl. Physiol. 92: 354-361.
29. Pendergast, D.R. 1988. The effect of body cooling on oxygen transport during exercise. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc. 20(Suppl. 5): S171-S176.
30. Petrofsky, J.S., Burse, R.L., and Lind, A.R. 1981. The effect of deep muscle temperature on the cardiovascular responses of man to static effort. Eur. J. Appl. Physiol. 47: 7-16. doi:10.1007/BF00422478.
31. Pugh, L.G.C.E., and Edholm, O.G. 1955. The physiology of channel swimmers. Lancet, 2: 761-767.
32. Rennie, D.W., Covino, B.G., Huwell, BJ., Song, S.H., Kang, B.S., and Hong, S.K. 1962. Physical insulation of Korean diving women. J. Appl. Physiol. 17: 961-966.
33. Royal Life Saving Society of Canada. 1997. Hypothermia: the cold wet facts. Ottawa, Ont.
34. Sawyer, S., and Barss, P. 1998. Stay with the boat or swim for shore? A comparison of drowning victim and survivor responses to immersion following a capsize or swamping In Proceedings of the Fourth World Conference on Injury Prevention and Control, 17-20 May, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. [Abstract.]
35. Scott, C.G., Ducharme, M.B., Haman, F., and Kenny, G.P. 2004. Warming by immersion or exercise affects initial cooling rate during subsequent cold-water immersion. Aviat. Space Environ. Med. 75: 956-963.
36. Servos, P. 2000. Distance estimation in the visual and visuomotor systems. Exp. Brain Res. 130: 35-47. doi:10.1007/s002210050004.
37. Talbot Committee on Naval Life-Saving. 1946. Admiralty papers.
38. The Canadian Red Cross Society. 1983. Cold water survival (SW83003-200M-E M/M). Ottawa, Ont..
39. The Canadian Red Cross Society. 1995a. Swimming and water safety. Mosby Lifeline, Toronto, Ont.
40. The Canadian Red Cross Society. 1995b. Swimming and water safety. Mosby Lifeline, Toronto, Ont.
41. The Canadian Red Cross Society. 2003. What we have learned: 10 years of pertinent facts about drowning and other water related injuries in Canada, 1991-2000. Ottawa, Ont.
42. The Canadian Red Cross Society. 2006. Drownings and other water-related injuries in Canada, 1991-2000. Module 2: Ice & Cold Water. Ottawa, Ont.
43. Tipton, M.J. 1989. The initial responses to cold-water immersion in man. Clin. Sci. (Lond.), 77: 581-588.
44. Tipton, M., Eglin, C., Gennser, M., and Golden, F. 1999. Immersion deaths and deterioration in swimming performance in cold water. Lancet, 354: 626-629. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(99)07273-6.
45. Tipton, M.J., Stubbs, D.A., and Elliott, D.H. 1990. The effect of clothing on the initial responses to cold-water immersion in man. J. R. Nav. Med. Serv. 76: 89-95.
46. Toner, M.M., Sawka, M.N., and Pandolf, K.B. 1984. Thermal responses during arm and leg and combined arm-leg exercise in water. J. Appl. Physiol. 56: 1355-1360.
47. Toner, M.M., Sawka, M.N., Holden, W.L., and Pandolf, K.B. 1985. Comparison of thermal responses between rest and leg exercise in water. J. Appl. Physiol. 59: 248-253.
48. Veicsteinas, A., Ferretti, G., and Rennie, D.W. 1982. Superficial shell insulation in resting and exercising men in cold water. J. Appl. Physiol. 52: 1557-1564.
49. Wade, C.E., and Veghte, J.H. 1977. Thermographic evaluation of the relative heat loss by area in man after swimming. Aviat. Space Environ. Med. 48: 16-18.
50. Wallingford, R., Ducharme, M.B., and Pommier, E. 2000. Factors limiting cold-water swimming distance while wearing personal floatation devices. Eur. J. Appl. Physiol. 82: 24-29. doi:10.1007/s004210050647.