How folks drown

[bearridge]

Fellas,

I know it aint but a handful of ya'll who like the whitewater tingle, but even flatwater river paddlers sometimes find the water movin' faster'n they figgered cuz of a big rain. Sometimes a tree iz down. Sometimes a big rock gits in yer way. Mebbe some dang fool opens a dam up on ya?

Ole Charlie Walbridge haz been keepin' track of ever time a paddler drowned....on whitewater. If ya wander round hiz section ya feel sad, particularly when yer on the river when anuther fella (like Ian Jennings) drowns, but ya learn a heap bout what went wrong 'n why. Even Ole Slim Ray who wrote THE river rescue book iz in there when he flipped hiz kayak 'n landed on hiz back. Ole Charlie hizownself iz in there (near bout drowned in hiz kayak).

http://www.americanwhitewater.org/conte ... dent/view/

This haz been on my mind cuz Dano sent us a tale bout a little pardner who jest drowned on the Buffalo River below Erbie when hiz canoe went up under a log 'n trapped him inside. It aint had time ta make it ta Charlie, but it will.

regards 'n paddle safe
bearridge

Under certain circumstances, profanity provides a relief denied even to prayer. Mark Twain

 

[oldsparkey]

Good web site , I searched Florida and ended up with zero results, I know of a few but it was motor boaters that did not make it. Just had one day before yesterday.

The couple in there 60's were docking there 30 footer and the wife slipped , went over at the dock , the husband jumped in trying to get her but his actions resulted in negative results. He did not fair to well , he is in intensive care. Both are reported to be experienced boaters and swimmers.
Remember it does not take a lot of water , just a drop will cause a person to have a really bad day.
I will go back and dig around some more as time allows.

Chuck.

 

[bearridge]

O Master of Flowbizness,

It iz a data base on the American Whitewater web site, but they do have some accidents that dont involve whitewater. Look at Mississippi....that one case iz jest a fella who jumped off the bank wearin' waders ta save a fisherman with a seizure. I dont recall seein' any motor boat accident reports.......... 'er that time that snaggle tooth fella shot Drew on the Chahoulawasse.

regards
bearridge

The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it. Albert Einstein

 

[oldsparkey]

Well , when I noticed Florida on there , it made me do some looking since we do have white water , Big Shoals on the Suwanee River.

We even had a guy try to run it in a 25 foot pontoon boat but he got stuck on the rocks. Only because the river was down and there wasn't enough water to float him over the rocks. In fact after he got off the boat and went back later on there was this picture of him walking out to the boat , the river went down a lot more since he got stuck on there.

My understanding is he w's nominated for the Darwin award but did not get it since everyone knows that to run white water you need a 25 foot boat. :lol:

Chuck.
Personally I figured he was a few cards short of a full deck.

 

[Ozark]

Read the one about the chain of rocks in Missouri on the Mississippi. It's not for those who are weak kneed.

 

[bearridge]

Friend Paul,

There iz one of those on river left jest below Victoria Bend, bout a mile below where the White River joins the Mississippi. The river folks who work that stretch of river, mostly on the new lock 'n dam, stay away frum it, even in those big work boats they use ta haul folks ta the job. Once upon a time I paddled rite thru it in my Ocean Kayak sit upon. I dont figger I will try that again. It wuz some kinda squirrelly in the middle of that come 'n go whirlpool (bout 25 yards across), but that part wuz okay. I wuz bout ta come out of it when that the thing begun ta suck my boat back up river. That wuz a bad feelin'....even tho I didnt figger no whirlpool would pull me under. A big whirlpool like that iz jest hard ta stare down inta.

I dont figger it iz az bad as those rocks at St. Louie, but Lance didnt like it either....'n he wuz in his hoop net fishin' work boat that day. [Most fishin' aint work, but runnin' nets iz.] He tole me he had ta give that big Johnson a boost ta git hizself past it.

There iz what looks like a small ledge on the Nantahala, jest above the NOC takeout. I found out later they call it The Washing Machine. One day I tried ta give surfin' a try there. It dont look like much, but after I dropped in, it turnt the boat sideways 'n wouldnt turn me loose. I kept the water under the boat, altho it throwed me down in the bottom of the boat a few times. I near bout wore myself out tryin' ta paddle out.....jest no way. It begun ta seem kinda scairy so I jest give up 'n turnt the boat bottom upwards. The water wuz only a few feet deep. I walked out 'n drug my boat out behind me. I reckon the low head dams, weirs, sunk barges, etc. in the big rivers kin drown a fella quicker'n ya kin git yer wealth redistribution check. :?

regards
bearridge

I once said cynically of a politician, "He'll double-cross that bridge when he comes to it." Oscar Levant

 

[Kayak Jack]

What to do if a person drowns: I read an article about Mr. Heimlich. He's the one who worked so hard to get the Red Cross to abandon the old method of artificial respiration where you pulled a swimmers arms backwards to inflate lungs, and take up mouth to mouth respiration.

A few years ago, he told them that if a person had drowned and went unconscious, do not bother trying to resuscitating the person using mouth to mouth. FIRST - you have to get the water out of the lungs before any air can go in. (Seems overly simple, now that you stop to think about it.)

He said to do the Heimlich maneuver, that will expel water, and in 26 out of 27 cases, the person started to breathe on their own!

So, if one of your buddies does drown, use the Heimlich maneuver to get water out of the lungs. If they do not start to breathe on their own, THEN apply mouth to mouth resuscitation.

 

[bearridge]

Truthful Jack,

Times change. The American Heart folks jest changed their rules....no more mouth ta mouth. I read the Heimlich aint good.....aspiration danger....on a drownin' person. I never tried ta bring nobody back, but with a bunch a geezers we jest gotta git a EMT 'er a nurse/gymnast. :wink:

regards
bearridge

Abdicate (v.), to give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.

 

[Kayak Jack]

I read the Heimlich aint good.....aspiration danger....on a drownin' person.

Well, yes and no. Aspirating in water is what caused drowning in the first place. If a fella is head high when you squeeze the water out, and he gasps as it's going out, then yes, he could aspirate some back in. The same could be said for a chunk of meat. If you hold him leaning out at an angle and squeeze, he can get it out better.

Doing nothing will ensure death; doing something may well (in 26 out of 27 cases) save a life.

 

[bearridge]

The Heimlich manoeuver is not recommended; the technique may have relevance in situations where airways are obstructed by solids but not fluids. Performing the manoeuver on drowning victims not only delays ventilation but may induce vomiting, which if aspirated will place the patient in a far worse situation. Moreover, the use of the Heimlich manoeuvre in any choking situation, involving solids or fluids, has become controversial and is generally no longer taught. For more information on this debate refer to the article Henry Heimlich.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drown

 

[Kayak Jack]

Well, it's interesting. Two problems here. First, "The factual accuracy of this section is disputed."

Secondly, they say nothing about how to treat a drowning victim.

They meander on for several paragraphs about how to haul him in the water, get him on solid surfaces, etc., but I noticed nothing nothing about how to save him.

Interesting.

 

[bearridge]

The Fresh vs. Salt Water section is disputed.