Originally Posted By Gershon



The second half I really have no great idea. If I fell in, I'd try to pick an angle to slow water where I could stand up. I might teach rescue techniques such as reaching with a long stick or tying a stick to the end of a rope and throwing it past the swimmer so they can catch the rope. Going into the water for a rescue often a bad idea which results in two fatalities.

Depending on the temperature of the water, I might teach getting the person stripped down after rescue and inside a sleeping bag. Then make some coffee (coffee is always my solution) to help them warm up.


The stream crossing techniques discussed in many a backpacking book (Allen and Mike's Really Cool Backpacking Book has good illustrations) are good reading.

One of the things such reading encourages, and I agree with, is prevention - assessing the situation. On a day hike out of Kings Canyon we came to a high elevation stream around 2 in the afternoon. It was *barely* crossable. I turned the group around because we would have, if we'd continued on, been arriving back at that stream at 6 pm - one of the lessons you learn about spring hikes when snowmelt is high, the streams are at their peak in the late afternoon. If you are facing a barely crossable stream in midday it will be uncrossable later.

Some good information and discussion Here.

Treatment for hypothermia is called for if the person actually shows symptoms of it... the details of hypothermia If a person develops severe hypothermia, which can happen a lot faster when immersion is a factor, you should not move the person, wrap him up as described, and start by rewarming (gently) the extremities. It is possible to inadvertently cause death by cardiac arrest if you warm the torso too quickly or jar the hypothermic person. Putting hot water bottles or heat pads in the palms, groin, or armpits is where to start. Severely hypothermic people cannot rewarm themselves.
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