HEALTH AND WELLBEING
Lifesaver in a lab coat
Your boat capsizes , tipping you into water so cold it snatches the air from your lungs , leaving you gasping and instantly panicked . Drowning , too often , has been the tragic outcome . Today , research shows how you can save yourself – even if you cannot swim .
P anic kills , never more terrifyingly than when triggered by plunging unexpectedly into freezing cold water . Panic is the instinctive fight for life ; to win , you have to beat not just the threat of drowning but the panic itself – and the clock is ticking .
“ Sixty to 90 seconds ,” says Mike Tipton , an international authority on the effects of sudden ‘ cold shock ’ on human physiology and drowning prevention . That is roughly how long it takes for ‘ cold shock ’ to pass . During this time you must gather your wits and force upon yourself the counterintuitive response to not resist , to defy every instinct and relax and float . Mike Tipton , Professor of Human and Applied Physiology at the University of Portsmouth , explains how , by getting your breathing under control , you minimise the chance of inhaling water and drowning .
Professor Tipton has spent 30 years researching thermoregulation and environmental and occupational physiology , and more than 20 years working with the Royal National Lifeboat Institution ( RNLI ) and other lifesaving organisations . He and his team at Portsmouth ’ s Extreme Environments Laboratory examine people ’ s physiological and psychological responses to adverse environments .
As anyone who has gone for a bracing swim or had the misfortune of tipping from a boat when fishing or sailing knows , the sea ( and lakes ) can be shockingly cold . What is known as ‘ cold shock ’ peaks between 10 and 15 ° C . The average temperature of UK and Irish waters is 12 ° C .
In the UK 56 % of those that die in water do so within the first few minutes of immersion
Cold shock is the primary cause of death on immersion in cold water
On average , there is an immersion death every 21 hours in the UK
On average one child a week drowns in the UK
But there is a way of behaving that will help keep you safe in the event of an accident .
“ Cold water drives your breathing and heart . It also tends to make you thrash around and try to swim hard , even if you can ’ t swim . That ’ s the ‘ fight or flight ’ response … but it doesn ’ t work in water ,” says Professor Tipton .
Fighting instinct “ It is about fighting that instinct . Rather than swim , force yourself to pause . Then float on your back until you ’ re able to catch your breath and calm yourself .” The importance of this is underscored by the lethal dose of salt water inhalation being only about 1.5 litres , less than one large breath – easily achieved in a panic and with the stimulus of cold shock .
The RNLI ’ s ‘ Float To Live ’ initiative , part of the Respect the Water campaign , has its origins in research by Professor Tipton , with scores of lives having been saved .
The campaign changed tack in 2016-17 after ongoing research with the RNLI , Surf Lifesaving GB ( SLSGB ), the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and other water safety organisations showed that half of those who end up in the water do so involuntarily . So the safety awareness message added ‘ survive ’ to the original ‘ respect ’ and tried to educate people about what to do once they are in the water .
“ Float to Live aims to get you over that period where you ’ ve lost control of your breathing ,” Professor Tipton explains .
“ If you can float until you get your breathing under control , you ' re in a much stronger position to save yourself or be saved .”
ILLUSTRATION : SHUTTERTSTOCK
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ISSUE 02 / 2021