Survival Titanic-style
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Windproof trousers and lots of tins of baked beans spring to mind... :shock:Kath said:Just watching Titanic (for the umpteenth time) and I'm wondering what you could realistically do on a ship that was going down in freezing water to help yourself float, protect yourself from the cold etc etc?
It's a very good question Kath, I would hope that in this day and age we would have access to immersion suits and with any luck enough time to put on a dense thermal layer that would pay particular attention to the thorax and head.
It would not be too long before the body started to draw blood from the extremities to try and keep the core temperature up, without something like the above on average it would probably be about 4 minutes before loss of motor function and consciousness and after ten death, that is if the shock of hitting the water didn't stop your heart.
Otherwise you would have to try and improvise a water/air tight bag which is weighted slightly at one end to stop you inverting and inflated, wear all the thermal kit that you have and pray that there is not a hole in the bag. Even with this there is a high likley hood that you would develop freezing cold injuries to the extremities in a short space of time and then the inevitable :yikes: .
I cannot remember the amount of time they told us we had if we fell in the water in South Georgia, even when wearing an immersion suit, but it isn't long. :shock:
It would not be too long before the body started to draw blood from the extremities to try and keep the core temperature up, without something like the above on average it would probably be about 4 minutes before loss of motor function and consciousness and after ten death, that is if the shock of hitting the water didn't stop your heart.
Otherwise you would have to try and improvise a water/air tight bag which is weighted slightly at one end to stop you inverting and inflated, wear all the thermal kit that you have and pray that there is not a hole in the bag. Even with this there is a high likley hood that you would develop freezing cold injuries to the extremities in a short space of time and then the inevitable :yikes: .
I cannot remember the amount of time they told us we had if we fell in the water in South Georgia, even when wearing an immersion suit, but it isn't long. :shock:
It´s ten years since Estonia sank. There is a lot of stories around with the people that survived. The thing that kept most people alive was the "will to live". They had someone at home that they wanted to meet again for example. Many people died only because they gave up. There was an other ferry that passed but could´nt lift any people up because of the bad weather so it could only pass all the people in the water and liferafts. Many people died when they saw it pass by, just simple because they gave up hope.
There is lot of stories to read about those who survived and also why they survived.
" - We sat and hugged each other all the time. I strongly believe, that partly that we kept each other present and maintained our physical warmth, and partly that we encouraged each other all the time, chatting in a reasonable way, helped us two through the night in a better way, than many who maybe set themselves to make it on their own."
From http://www.multi.fi/~stigb/Estonia/
There is a lot to read about this disaster, search for estonia ferry and diaster
There is lot of stories to read about those who survived and also why they survived.
" - We sat and hugged each other all the time. I strongly believe, that partly that we kept each other present and maintained our physical warmth, and partly that we encouraged each other all the time, chatting in a reasonable way, helped us two through the night in a better way, than many who maybe set themselves to make it on their own."
From http://www.multi.fi/~stigb/Estonia/
There is a lot to read about this disaster, search for estonia ferry and diaster
if you were prepared you could wear a dry suit (like divers and boat racers) though its a little bulky (takes up a whole duffel bag)
immersion suits are not normally supplied for passenger use on large ships but they are supplied to crew, take a walk around the ship towards the bridge, engine room ect (areas where passengers are not allowed to normally enter) and you will start to come across immersion suits in large orange cases on the wall, rember where these are and nab one in an emergency if you can.
like wise on planes there is a large survival kit in a hatch in the ceiling directly above the emergency door over the wings
or you could carry one of these:
which is simmilar to what pilots use a personal mini life raft for if they have to eject over water
if however you were unprepared for such an event, then hopfully you will have memorised the routes to the life boats and got there at the FIRST sign of trouble. and you would have done you reseach and not have boarded a vessel which did not have adiquate emergency equipment.
failing that and you are on an ill equiped vessle which is sinking, gather anything which is boyant, preferably somthing large enough to keep you out of the water, put on warm clothing and look for a way of signaling
if you end up in the water bring your knees up to your chest and wrap your arms aroung them so thatyou roll up into a ball with your head out of the water, (the position reduces the surface area of your body in contact with the water) and do not try to swim as this would move the water around you removing the layer of water you just warmed up.
immersion suits are not normally supplied for passenger use on large ships but they are supplied to crew, take a walk around the ship towards the bridge, engine room ect (areas where passengers are not allowed to normally enter) and you will start to come across immersion suits in large orange cases on the wall, rember where these are and nab one in an emergency if you can.
like wise on planes there is a large survival kit in a hatch in the ceiling directly above the emergency door over the wings
or you could carry one of these:
which is simmilar to what pilots use a personal mini life raft for if they have to eject over water
if however you were unprepared for such an event, then hopfully you will have memorised the routes to the life boats and got there at the FIRST sign of trouble. and you would have done you reseach and not have boarded a vessel which did not have adiquate emergency equipment.
failing that and you are on an ill equiped vessle which is sinking, gather anything which is boyant, preferably somthing large enough to keep you out of the water, put on warm clothing and look for a way of signaling
if you end up in the water bring your knees up to your chest and wrap your arms aroung them so thatyou roll up into a ball with your head out of the water, (the position reduces the surface area of your body in contact with the water) and do not try to swim as this would move the water around you removing the layer of water you just warmed up.
G
Ginja
Guest
Kath said:
Kath I think you'll find that most life rafts are double walled or cellular, this means that you have air space between you and the water surface, eventually the cold will have an impact, but it should keep you going for a while, at least untill you've managed to drift into the Bahamas
):
Kath said:
I dont think you will have to worried about the cold from under, I would be more worried of all the water coming over you.
Boats don´t normally sink when the sea is calm...
Great answer Stuart,The position of the survival kit on planes is never mentioned in the pre-flight talk. :?: Especially as you can't even have a SAK classic in your pocket any more :shock:
I just knew you'd have a pocket liferaft in your kit tho' :rolmao:
I just knew you'd have a pocket liferaft in your kit tho' :rolmao:
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