PROVIDENCE - With the 2015 trout fishing season opening on Saturday, April 11, the Department of Environmental Management reminds anglers - particularly those fishing from a boat - that even on a warm day water temperatures can hover in the low to mid 50s. According to a U.S. Coast Guard report, a boating accident is five times more likely to be fatal if the water is colder than 60 degrees. The effects of a cold water immersion event can contribute to death well in advance of any drop of body core temperature. In addition, a U.S Coast Guard report stated that eight out of 10 boaters who drowned were using vessels less than 21 feet in length. According to recent U.S. Coast Guard Statistics, drowning was the reported cause of death in almost three-fourths of all boating fatalities in 2012. Of those, 85 percent were reported as not wearing life jackets. Coupling cold water with small, unstable vessels like canoes, kayaks, and smaller vessels places anglers in a very dangerous situation.
"Cold water can kill in ways that you might not expect," said Lieutenant Steven Criscione, boating safety coordinator for DEM's Division of Law Enforcement. "Nearly everyone knows that immersion in cold water can cause hypothermia - the abnormal lowering of the body's core temperature. The effects of a cold water immersion event can contribute to your death well in advance of any drop of body core temperature."
According to the U.S. Coast Guard Safety Division, victims who experience an unexpected fall overboard suffer initial cold water shock in the first minute, which involuntarily causes them to take a series of big breaths, called hyperventilation. If their head is underwater, they can inhale more than a quart of water and drown immediately. People lucky enough to keep their head above water will continue hyperventilating as their blood pressure jumps. If they can't control their breathing within 60 seconds, they'll suffer numbness, muscle weakness or even fainting, which leads to drowning. A person with heart disease may experience sudden death due to cardiac arrest.
A victim who survives the first minute of cold shock and hyperventilation will progress to the second stage, called "cold incapacitation" or swimming failure. Within about 10 minutes, rapid cooling of the extremities causes muscle stiffening so a person will no longer be able to perform the simplest tasks, such as swimming, holding onto a floating object, or putting on a life jacket. Even yelling for help can be difficult.
Hypothermia is the third stage. There is a common misperception that it sets in almost immediately after a person lands in cold water. However, a victim won't start to become hypothermic for 30 minutes. Severe hypothermia can take an hour or more to set in, depending on the water temperature, body mass, clothing, the amount of struggling and several other factors. A body core temperature of 95 degrees is considered hypothermic, loss of consciousness occurs at about 86 degrees, and death is imminent when the core temperature drops below 82. Unless a person is wearing a life jacket, drowning will occur long before severe hypothermia gets them.
Most boating fatalities are the result of capsizing or falls overboard, not collisions between boats running at high speed. "We see it time and time again in Rhode Island boating accidents," Lt. Criscione said. "A single boat on a lake capsizes and the victim isn't wearing a life jacket, has no warning or time to put one on, and drowns due to the effects of cold water."
Experts recommend that people who end up in the water stay with the boat, even if they aren't able to get back in. They are more likely to be seen by potential rescuers if they are next to a boat. A person should only swim for shore if wearing a life jacket, if the likelihood of rescue is low, or if they are close to shore and aren't able to climb back into or on top of the boat. "The key is the life jacket," Lt. Criscione said. "A person who suffers swimming failure or loss of consciousness will stay afloat wearing a life jacket, but will drown without one."
Lt. Criscione said smart anglers wear a life jacket from the time they enter the boat until they return to shore. "There is no time to put a life jacket on before a boating accident," Criscione noted. "It would be like trying to buckle your seat belt before a car crash." Today's life jackets are comfortable, stylish, and easy to wear. In fact, they don't even have to be jackets anymore. Old-fashioned, bulky orange jackets have been replaced with innovative options such as inflatable life jackets, allowing mobility and flexibility for activities like boating and fishing.