Your ability to survive cold water immersion depends on your ability to stay afloat and to stay warm until help arrives.
Many areas of the country have warm days and yet the water stays cold. In many places, parts of the year and bodies of water warm air temperatures may not coincide with safer, warm waters. +RisksĬold water risks include immersion into any body of cold water: oceans, lakes, rivers, streams or pools. Even removed from cold water a victim’s core temperature can continue to drop to dangerous levels. If you get yourself or help someone else escape from cold water, get into a warm, dry, protected environment as quickly as possible. As the core body temperature continues to drop the impairments to physical and cognitive ability also increase until drowning or death without rescue become inevitable. Beyond the initial dangers of cold shock in the first 1 – 3 minutes of immersion a person’s body temperature will continue to drop increasing the risk of drowning or death. The onset of hypothermia begins with a core body temperature to 95F (35C). The progressive loss of muscular control makes staying afloat without assistance or self-rescue virtually impossible. Symptoms may include weakness, exhaustion, and an inability to control fingers, hands, arms or legs. With a loss of muscular control to keep your head above the water, along with the lack of a lifejacket or floatation device, drowning will become inevitable. The longer the exposure, or the colder the water, the more severe the impact can become. Physical incapacitation is a loss of muscular control in the arms, legs, hands and feet, and the impact can be felt within seconds of entering cold water. Extended exposure and the onset of hypothermia can further hamper cognitive ability and the ability to choose the right actions to avoid severe injury or death. This increase can cause heart failure and stroke for vulnerable people.Ĭold shock can cause an immediate panic, fear or stress reaction that then impairs clear thinking and decision making. This uncontrolled rapid breathing can quickly create a drowning emergency if you inhale water and cannot stay afloat.Ĭold water can cause a sudden spike in heart rate and blood pressure. Gasping for Breath & Rapid Breathing (2-3 Minutes or More)Ĭold Water Immersion can trigger involuntary gasping, rapid breathing or hyperventilating due to the “shock” of sudden immersion.Knowing what happens when you enter cold water and what you can do in those first seconds could save your life and give time for help to arrive. Even the most experienced cold water surfers, swimmers or boaters know to prepare for the conditions. When Cold Shock and Hypothermia begin to impact your ability to think and act, lifejackets and floatation can create extra time for help to arrive or for you to get out of danger. Unplanned immersion in cold water can be life-threatening for anyone without protection from the temperatures or a lifejacket to help you stay afloat. In rougher open water this danger increases. The sudden gasp and rapid breathing alone creates a greater risk of drowning even for confident swimmers in calm waters. When your body hits cold water, “cold shock” can cause dramatic changes in breathing, heart rate and blood pressure. Cold water drains body heat up to 4 times faster than cold air.
Warm air temperatures can create a false sense of security for boaters and beach goers, so if you are planning to be on or near the water, arrive knowing the conditions and how to protect yourself. Plunging into cold water of any temperature becomes dangerous if you aren’t prepared for what the sudden exposure can do to your body and brain. Fifty five degree water may not sound very cold, but it can be deadly. Warm air doesn’t always mean warm water in lakes, streams or oceans.