Instruction manual

PROFICIENCY IN SURVIVAL CRAFT AND RESCUE BOATS OTHER THAN
FAST RESCUE BOATS
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vest or collar-type PFDs. A hood protects the head and neck area, and a
removable seat panel reduces heat loss in the groin area.
Regardless of what you use to prevent hypothermia – life vest, float coat,
industrial work suit, survival suit, or drysuit – flotation and insulation are important
in increasing your survival time. PFDs designed to prevent hypothermia are
recommended for anyone who spends time on or near cold water. To increase
your visibility in the water, add reflective tape to your PFD. A strobe light, whistle,
or emergency position indicating radio beacon (EPIRB) will increase your chance
of being rescued.
Hypothermia symptoms
When you first fall into cold water you gasp (torso reflex). Next, your skin
begins to cool, and your body constricts surface blood vessels to conserve heat
for your vital organs. Blood pressure and heart rate increase. Muscles tense and
shiver; this produces more body heat, but results in a loss of dexterity and motor
control. As your body’s core temperature drops further, blood pressure, pulse,
and respiration rates all decrease.
As conditions worsen, your mental attitude and level of consciousness
change. Resisting help and acting irrational or confused are common indicators
of hypothermia. As your core temperature drops dangerously low, you become
semiconscious, then unconscious. Stress, shock, and low core temperatures
may cause cardiac and respiratory failure.
Hypothermia sneaks up on you, so you probably aren't the best judge of whether
or not you are hypothermic.
Signs that a person is nearing a hypothermic state include shivering, poor
coordination, and mental sluggishness. As hypothermia progresses, shivering
ceases, coordination is severely impaired, and confusion is coupled with
incoherence and irrationality. Severely hypothermic people have icy skin.
Extreme lethargy merges with unconsciousness and they might appear dead.
Since each individual reacts differently, the severity of hypothermia is best
measured by taking a core temperature reading using a rectal thermometer. Oral
measurements do not accurately measure changes in core temperature.
Treating hypothermia
First aid goals include:
• preventing further heat loss,
• re-warming the victim,
• quickly getting professional medical help as needed.
Minimize the victim’s physical exertion when removing her or him from cold
water. Rescuers may have to enter the water to get the victim. Once out of the