Cold Water Safety

[Jax]

I told you that stuff wasn't good for you! :scorned:


See how well you score on DAN's new safety quiz: Alert Diver | Thermal Stress and Diving Quiz (http://alertdiver.com/?articleNo=729)

[Doppler]

LOL... ho, boi!

[NWGratefulDiver]

The majority of the questions, as asked, are irrelevent to the real-world diver. It's almost like testing someone on their knowledge of terminology rather than concepts ... which is typical is scuba-related exams and quizzes.

Many of my answers, had I been given the choice, would be "who cares" ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

[Tracy Saunders]

I told you that stuff wasn't good for you! :scorned:


See how well you score on DAN's new safety quiz: Alert Diver | Thermal Stress and Diving Quiz (http://alertdiver.com/?articleNo=729)

LOL Jax... LOL. :D

Oh boy, I got some larnin to do... 1 out of 13. :dork2:

I think this was outta my range tho, cuz a lot of the pics were full of snow and ice. I might do 50's or high 40's but I think that would be the lowest I'd go with me 7m wetsuit.

[Jax]

The majority of the questions, as asked, are irrelevent to the real-world diver. It's almost like testing someone on their knowledge of terminology rather than concepts ... which is typical is scuba-related exams and quizzes.

Many of my answers, had I been given the choice, would be "who cares" ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Unfortunately, Bob, I agree. :(

I would have appreciated it much more it there was more on recognizing your dive buddies symptoms underwater, and the first aid for it.

Like, how many carry a thermometer that can measure temperatures much below 96F?

(Okay, I do, but I used to be National Ski Patrol.)

A lot of people do not realize that hypothermia can happen in 77F water, when one has done five dives that day.

[Jax]

Good article on Hypothermia, for those of you wondering: Hypothermia: First aid - MayoClinic.com (http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/first-aid-hypothermia/FA00017)

[TSandM]

I don't care what their answer to the last question is, I'm using argon anyway!

[sam1]

I got 9 out of 13.

[Jax]

From the Hypothermia: First aid - MayoClinic.com (http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/first-aid-hypothermia/FA00017#) . . . These are the first aid steps:


Call 911 or emergency medical assistance. While waiting for help to arrive, monitor the person's breathing. If breathing stops or seems dangerously slow or shallow, begin cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) immediately.
Move the person out of the cold. If going indoors isn't possible, protect the person from the wind, cover his or her head, and insulate his or her body from the cold ground.
Remove wet clothing. Replace wet things with a warm, dry covering.
Don't apply direct heat. Don't use hot water, a heating pad or a heating lamp to warm the victim. Instead, apply warm compresses to the center of the body — head, neck, chest wall and groin. Don't attempt to warm the arms and legs. Heat applied to the arms and legs forces cold blood back toward the heart, lungs and brain, causing the core body temperature to drop. This can be fatal.
Don't give the person alcohol. Offer warm nonalcoholic drinks, unless the person is vomiting.
Don't massage or rub the person. Handle people with hypothermia gently; their skin may be frostbitten, and rubbing frostbitten tissue can cause severe damage.


Emphasis mine - Jax

[RTee]

I don't care what their answer to the last question is, I'm using argon anyway!

+1 about the I don't care portion but I am still using air as I am a cheap bastard. May also want to consider increasing the mass to area index for additional protection but I am not sure that Peter will agree with me on this one...:D.

8 out of 13, I can live with that.

Jax, there used to be a time when they also recommended sharing a sleeping bag butt naked with the victim, but I can see that it is no longer part of the checklist. I think it is mainly due to too many circumstances where people had to explain to the victim as to why they felt they should not do it...same sex, not same sex, hairy chest, not enough room in sleeping bag, etc

[NWGratefulDiver]

Jax, there used to be a time when they also recommended sharing a sleeping bag butt naked with the victim, but I can see that it is no longer part of the checklist. I think it is mainly due to too many circumstances where people had to explain to the victim as to why they felt they should not do it...same sex, not same sex, hairy chest, not enough room in sleeping bag, etc

... those were the days when you chose your dive buddies very carefully ... :shocked2:

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

[Doppler]

...

Like, how many carry a thermometer that can measure temperatures much below 96F?



And how many of us know where to put it?


:mooner:

[RTee]

And how many of us know where to put it?


:mooner:

Especially when not knowing where it had been put previously?

[DivemasterDennis]

TMI, guys. As to the cold water test, I too think it is more theoretical than practical. From a practical standpoint, here are the best tips to avoid cold water stress and hypothermia:
Don't dive in really cold water.
If ice touches the body of water you are diving in within 500 miles of your entry point, you are in really cold water
For purposes of this list, really cold water is water below 77 degrees F.

I regularly dive in water between 55 F and 75 F, but that is nothing compared to what some of you rough and tumble guys do. My serious tips for staying warm: wear adequate exposure gear- especially a hood. Get dry asap after exiting the water. Stand in sunlight whenever possible. If you are cold, stop diving for the day. Cudos to all my dry suit wearing cold water fanatic friends. I'll take 80+ any time!
DivemasterDennis

[Teamcasa]

Here's my cold water test:
If I get cold when diving, I get out of the water.

[straitscuba]

I got a whopping 5 out of 13 right. I thought I would have done better since I have been a cold water diver for 95% of my diving career. Some of the stuff in the quiz really didn't make much sense to me.

[soltari675]

5 of 13. I didn't know some of the terminology. That's ok. I get the point of it though. I like to dive year round. Water temperatures anywhere from 30's on up. I decided I didn't want an off season, so I bought a dry suit. :) No matter which suit though, if I get cold I just get out of the water for the day and go warm up. Only had the shivers in the water once and I dried off and sat in my car for a bit with the heat on full blast. Problem solved. I am looking forward to doing ice diving when I can. Not going to get cold enough this year here in MO to do it. But sometime..

[Tracy Saunders]

Here's my cold water test:
If I get cold when diving, I get out of the water.

The voice of the uncommon common sense speaks again!

[fncrow]

I also got 5 out of 13 and probably only got that many right do to lucky guesses and a little basic understanding of hypothermia.

[dumpsterDiver]

I got 12 right and the one i got wrong was questionable...(#8) They say the body thermoregulates by controlling evaporation???? Maybe by controlling sweating, but the body can NOT regulate evaporation because it is a function of ambient relative humidity, temperature and wind speed.. DAN don't always know..

[koozemani]

7 of 13. If I need more than a 5 mil, then it's to cold.

[Jax]

I got 12 right and the one i got wrong was questionable... They say the body thermoregulates by controlling evaporation???? Maybe by controlling sweating, but the body can NOT regulate evaporation because it is a function of ambient relative humidity, temperature and wind speed.. DAN don't always know..

I thought it said due to convection - the swirling of the water around the body.

[Jax]

Jax, there used to be a time when they also recommended sharing a sleeping bag butt naked with the victim, but I can see that it is no longer part of the checklist. I think it is mainly due to too many circumstances where people had to explain to the victim as to why they felt they should not do it...same sex, not same sex, hairy chest, not enough room in sleeping bag, etc

Actually, they still due, in the services and such. If your buddy falls in icy water, you do the sleeping bag thing. It's the only way to get the person in a warm, but not overheated, environment. Also, they teach it in the Ski Patrol, but we had snazzy foil blankets to reflect heat in.

[Jax]

And how many of us know where to put it?

:mooner:

Why, yes, that's one place! :rofl3:

[FFPEREZ]

12 of 13 .... I didn't know afterdrop thought it was compensatory decay

[Garrobo]

My number one safety rule about diving in cold water is: "Stay out of cold water."

[DaleC]

It ain't so bad... oh, who am I kidding - but the scenery is nice and no crowds!
114022

[coldwatercanada]

i got 7 out of 13 which surprises me due to the fact i mostly dive cold water (32-60 degrees) But i think i mixed up a lot of terms!

[VooDooGasMan]

To date, the best proven cold water death is the drummer from the beach boys, he dove in the marina where his yacht was moored and looked for all the things he threw over, drinking and diving in shallow water for like 9 hours, I believe in cali, so at least submerged for 5 to 6 hours, never surfaced from last dive, they figured it out when he did not show up for happy hour, and seen all the stuff on the dock. I would believe he was wanting to find something of value he knew was down there as he was broke at this point staying with a buddy on his yacht.

[nimoh]

8/13 but will also admit that some of my correct answers were guesses :)

Also agree with other posters that claim to know the concept, but not know the "official" term.

[randy88k5]

9/13 for me. The test was harder than I anticipated.

[TSandM]

A few of those questions are pretty poorly written.

[Doppler]

A few of those questions are pretty poorly written.

Not only poorly written, but one has to ask why some of them made it into the quiz at all. Reminded me of a pop-quiz in Physics 101... not really sure what possible benefit it might be for someone preparing to (gods forbid) dive in cold water!

[freewillie]

S-s-still t-t-trying to answer. F-f-f-ingers still t-t-t-oo cold to t-t-ype.

G-g-going to d-d-d-ive somewhere w-w-warm !!!

[Blue Sparkle]

I agree. It strikes me as an odd quiz, given what one presumes DAN would actually be aiming for. It seems like they made a quiz to show nerdy facts from a book vs. sitting down, figuring out what divers should know from a practical angle, and then deciding how to write the quiz in order to "test" that goal.

I got 9 of 13 but I attribute that level of "success" mostly to coming from up north (where we learn about hypothermia, the various types of heat transfer as applied to heating one's home, etc.).

[Jax]

Agree with all you are saying!

This article from 2007 pretty much sums up the cold water issues. This young women died when her overly large wetsuit allowed too much circulation of 7o - 9o C [45o - 48o F] water. The hypothermia slowed her down, then she went unconscious and drowned. THIS is important data, not the technical names of cold water terms.


Diver died because her suit was too big | Mail Online (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-428317/Diver-died-suit-big.html)