Quote:
Originally Posted by ken0042
It is a little bit of a hyperbole, but it can happen. Look at the guy who attempted to rescue a person last week. He was an experienced swimmer and he ended up needing rescue himself. Granted part of that was the panic of the first recuee making the situation worse.
I found a chart here: chart Basically it says that in 5 degree celcius water (40 F) the time to "Exhaustion or Unconsciousness" is about 30 minutes- and at that temp they give a range of 15-60 minutes. So if you are in top shape and weigh 160 pounds- your time is going to be less than me at 230 pounds. And that is the time to unconsciousness- you can also become weaker as time goes by.
Also if you are in waist deep water, you are likely fine. And odds are where you land the boat normally the water is that shallow, so 5 minutes of pulling the boat has no effect. But end up in the middle of the water, waste a few minutes trying to catch up to your boat, then try to get to shore, you may not make it. And if you swallow a lung full of water it is much easier to force that water out of you aren't relying on your swimming ablility to keep you afloat. That, and as anybody who scuba dives will tell you- your lungs are incredibly huge ballasts keeping you afloat. Fill them half way with water, and you could also be done.
You are right though; it is a bit of an exageration and most times you will be OK. But the reason for safety equipment of any kind isn't to guard against what will happen most of the time; it's to save you against those rare occasions where a couple of things go wrong. |
I just got back to Calgary after a couple months away a couple days ago, so I'm not familiar with what happened last week. The only incident that I remember was the drowning at the wier earlier.
That chart is interesting. I assume that the temperature of the Bow is about the 5 degrees that you used as an example? That chart was suprising to me in any case. I've spent hours on end in water during the summer and have never considered the threat of hypothermia, but that was in a relatively warm lake, and I didn't take the temp of the water.
I guess the biggest part of my mentality that the Bow isn't dangerous comes from where I grew up. I'm from Trail BC. The Columbia River is a huge river and it flows through there at a pretty fast rate. I swam in there every day of summer for 10 years. I guess that's what I use as a reference point. I have never felt in danger on the Bow. I realize that it obviously is dangerous, otherwise people wouldnt need to be rescued from it so frequently, but people are allowed on other bodies of water that are far more dangerous and it is sufficient just to have a life jacket with them. That's what I wish the law was here. It is much more comfortable floating in a raft or swimming without having a life jacket on.
But I guess that like many other laws, this one is just to protect people from themselves. It would be nice if we could count on people to take care of themselves and behave within their personal limitations. But we all know that is impossible for some...especially when alcohol is involved.