Jump to content

Think of the rescuers


lew

Recommended Posts

It's still early in the winter season and many of the lakes aren't safely frozen over yet, but all you ice fishermen are itching to get out there, and understandably so.

 

Just take into consideration though, that if you break thru the ice and can't get out, others are going to have to endanger their own lives in order to try & rescue you.

 

My brother was a volunteer fireman for many years and they were called out late one night early in the ice fishing season when someone heard screaming coming from far out on the lake. My brother & 3 other firemen who responded to the call for help had to walk out about 1/4 mile on very thin ice to try & help the fishermen. He said in many places the ice was cracking under their feet and water was seeping thru in spots, but they couldn't ignore the calls and had to continue on.

 

Eventually, after following the screams they found the spot where the men had broken thru the thin ice, and crawled the last 50 feet or so till they were able to get hold of them and pull then out. One of the fishermen was dead when they got him out of the water, but the 2nd man survived although he was in very serious shape.

 

Eventually they were able to get the 2 back into shore and the awaiting ambulance and off to the hospital. The one man was lucky and survived the ordeal, although his dear friend didn't make it.

 

One man made it, and one died, but it could have been MUCH worse had things gone terribly wrong and the 4 rescuers went into the frigid waters too, and died also.

 

I just thought I'd pass this story on to everyone incase you decide to take a chance with your own life on the ice before it's thick enough. Please just remember that if you go thru the ice and get in serious trouble, others will have to risk their own lives on the thin ice in order to save yours.

 

 

Just something to think about.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

dont these rescuers have survival suits?

 

even with a survival suit, you can only last in this kind of frigid water for so long, unless you are thinking they have some other kind of suit that i'm not so familiar/aware of. even so, they are risking their lives, to save your life, there are other dangers beside the fact of it being cold water. what if they slid under the ice?

what if someone cracked the ice and got smacked on the head and went unconscious, under the water?

there are many things that could happen that you wouldn't want to think about.

 

lew, i'm glad you made this post. thank you.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Put my old buick thru the ice once , not fun (young and very very foolish). Lucky we were on the bog and only 30 feet from shore so we climbed out the windows, the roof of the car was still out of the water (slush) 30 feet is not much but walking in waste high slush made for a very cold time . Last time I ever drove out on to the ice would not want to do this on deeper lake .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A float suit and a survival suit are two completely different.

 

First the price, a cheap survival suit is $2500

 

A survival suit doesn't allow water from entering the suit.

 

The ones they use in the north sea can cost up to $15.000.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The suits are a mute point, rescuers use a method called risk versus outcome, does the rescuer risk their live affect their families future if the risk is not worth the outcome. In our business people generally dont call us because something good has happened so training, , instinct and knowledge have to prevail, please be care and safe and dont put others in that situation if you can avoid it. l

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When I made this post initially it wasn't meant to infer that the fire fighters would necessarily be the rescuers, as it could be anyone in the vicinity who could become involved. I just mentioned it because that particular rescue involved my brother who was a fireman at the time.

 

Sorry for any confusion

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Excellent reminder Lew, I'm sure everyone can wait another week for the ice to harden up a bit more, heck, cut down the stuff on the "Honey Do" list first, 'cause without a "Honey" not much will get done if you don't come home again. Accidents happen and those are situations where even when everything is done right, results in something bad. Sheer stupidity on the other hand must be part of some peoples genetics.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recent Topics

    Popular Topics

    Upcoming Events

    No upcoming events found

×
×
  • Create New...