Because I'm in the middle of writing "The Good Girls' Guide to Sex" for Zondervan, I don't have quite the time to blog as I used to. So I'm going to try to publish on Thursdays weird or interesting links I find!
Today I just have to show you these two videos by hypothermia expert Gordon Giesbrecht. I think he's mildly insane. Basically, he lets himself fall through the ice to show you what to do. He's a professor from Manitoba, and obviously an outdoorsman, but there were so many things in this first video I never knew that I made my whole family watch it.
For those of you who don't live where there's winter, excuse me while I feel a little jealousy. But for those of us who do, it's amazing how much of this common sense stuff we didn't know. Watch the video. It's long, but it's mesmerizing:
Basically, in a nutshell:
1. In the first one-three minutes your body will go into cold shock and you will start to hyperventilate. Don't try to get out of the ice at this point; simply focus on staying up and not drowning.
2. Once your breathing slows, you can now attempt to get out of the ice.
3. Exit by the way you came in, because you know that ice was strong enough to hold you before.
4. Don't lift yourself up. Kick so that your body is horizontal, and then just shimmy along the ice.
The second video shows what to do if you are now alone, in the middle of nowhere, and you're wet and have to wait for someone to rescue you. Again, very interesting, but I'm unlikely to be in this situation since we don't really snowmobile. But it is neat to watch:
I've always tried to teach my girls all the safety mechanisms I can, and this is one of them. I put them in swimming lessons at a very young age, and my oldest is now just about a qualified lifeguard (she can't totally qualify until she's 16). We do regular fire drills. But this is one I hadn't thought of, and we do ski and live around a ton of rivers. So it's good to know!
And even if you don't live around ice, watch these videos. This guy is awesome.
About Me: I'm a Christian author of a bunch of books, and a frequent speaker to women's groups and marriage conferences. Best of all, I love homeschooling my daughters, Rebecca and Katie. And I love to knit. Preferably simultaneously.
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