Earthquakes, survival and not making a profit off people in trouble

It has been more than a week since a 6.3 magnitude quake rocked the city of Christchurch, New Zealand,resulting in the death of more than 148 people in the city of 350,000.

Large parts of the city’s infrastructure were also destroyed. While power has been restored to 85 per cent of homes, at least 55,000 do not have access to clean water, according to a running blog of updates on stuff.co.nz.

Steve Heap, operations manager at Bunnings Warehouse in Riccarton, told stuff.co.nz that his store was pulling in “a lot of dollars” on items like generators “flying out the door, mate.”

Stores across the city and surrounding area are doing a brisk trade on any items that people need in survival type situations. Several are discounting products to help out residents.

At Bunnings up to (US)$40,00 of stock was destroyed but even as supplies dwindle the prices are not going up. They are also selling items in bulk at cost to people trying to help residents.

“The obvious are the water containers, the gas cookers, gas bottles, gas refills out the front, wheel barrow, shovels,” said Heap.

“Solar showers we're selling as water containers now, because we're out of containers. We've sold watering cans as water storage containers _ it's just trying to think outside the square for the punters.

“It's all really survival mode stuff ... we've pulled things to the front like water purifiers, packaging, batteries, buckets.

“It's all those sort of things you can think of that people need is what we've been selling.”

Not that you would expect someone in a mid-sized city to try to profit from a disaster, but it is always satisfying to reading stories about how people step up or resist the urge to take advantage of people during times of need.

This might be a good time for me to put in a shameless plug for an organization I have enormous respect for in Canada called Global Medic. The organization flies around the world in times of disaster providing medical support and clean water. Donations can be year round on their website.

Survival events, goat attacks and nuns

Spent the past few days trolling Google for survival related news and while I didn’t come across anything as exciting a man surviving on windshield wiper fluid for five days I did find a brief explanation of what I am sure will be an fun day for the students at a Sudbury school.

Today (Thursday) the kids of Northeastern Elementary School in Sudbury “will host a school-wide survival event to promote literacy,” according to a story posted on Northernlife.ca.

It is called “SURVIVE THIS!, the Indoor/Outdoor Wilderness Survival Challenge” and kids from junior kindergarten to grade 8 will get to spend three hours playing with “survival props” in dramatic scenarios, engage in camaraderie building exercises and learn about making high energy foods.

Even if the games are a bust their speakers will include a woman named Hope Jungblut, who climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro, according to the story.

I love that this school is organizing this type of event. In elementary school anything related to science or the outdoors gave me a huge thrill.

We had a great science teacher named Ann with a silvery blond ponytail who was fond of bringing her collection of her personal pets to school.

I still remember the weight of her boa constrictor around my neck, the musty smell of her pet opossum and the excitement of cracking open her owl's pellets to sort through the mouse bones inside.

(They swallow the animals whole. When you open the dry pellets you can find close to complete skeletons. Click here for a virtual owl pellet disection!)

I was in absolute heaven.

At least until I recklessly chose to open my bag of cheese crackers near the menagerie and was ambushed from behind by her pet goat.

For a brief moment we, a silvery bearded beast and a chubby kilted girl with braces, formed a grossly awkward conga line.

I shook off my fright and the goat in about two seconds.

One of the mothers was fairly upset. The nuns, arranged in one of their customary clusters nearby, showed no signs of excitement.

I would love to know what kinds of survival or outdoor training kids are getting in school in the GTA. I know members of the P.I.N.E project, a group that strives to educate children about the outdoors, has visited at least one school.

 Sure the Sudbury event will go off without a hitch. Guessing there will not be any goats.

Water, pliers, duct tape and a trip to Canadian Tire

Squeezing into a tight spot in a closet, Emily Mathieu tackles the tricky job of replacing the water hoses of her clothes washer. (Bill Taylor photo)

It was my first real emergency and I had to call for help. But in this case going solo wasn't an option.

The wonders of what the human body can endure.

If you have been keeping on top of the news, you know that this week is a banner one for extreme stories of survival.

Thestar.com posted a few stories that are still making my head spin. The first is the story of Arizona man Henry Morello, who survived five days in the desert, stuck in his car, by drinking windshield wiper fluid.

The story is a few days old. But MSNBC show The Body Odd  took a really interesting crack at the scientific side of what drinking windshield wiper fluid could do to a human body, as well as what age has to do with our ability to survive dehydration.

Now for story #2.  Also earlier this week, Andrew Wilson was washed overboard after a rogue wave hit his small motorboat about six kilometres from the shore. The boat kept moving and he had no choice but to swim to shore. It took six hours.

The 25-year-old told the Tweed Daily News that “adrenaline and just sheer determination” were what kept him going.

It made me think of something flat-out amazing that a colleague did recently. It is also a really interesting story about what swimming for an extended period of time does to a body, even someone who is extremely fit and trained for many, many months to prepare.

In August Toronto Star designer Miguel Vadillo swan across Lake Ontario in 18 hours, three minutes and 49 seconds to raise money for charity. You can check out the photos here and read Star reporter Jim Rankin’s story about why he did it here.

Don't have much to add. The story speaks for itself.

Dry drowning, the immediate gasp response and responding to a reader challenge

 Last week I reposted information from Ian Gilson of the Canadian Boating Council describing the “immediate gasp response,” or what happens when a person lands in water below 15 C. The short explanation is we breathe in fast and hard, potentially sucking up to a litre of water into our lungs.

A reader (hooray!) objected to that explanation and raised an interesting question.

What exactly happens when we drown?

His comments are posted below in their entirety:

“Ian Gilson explained that the shock of hitting water below 15 C could cause a person to take a forceful involuntary breath. That means you can inhale up to a litre of water." Ian Gilson's opinion should not be taken for fact. Very little, if any, water enters the lungs of a conscious victim that is in the process of drowning. When water enters the airways of conscious and even unconscious victims, they experience a laryngospasm. The larynx (vocal cords) constricts and seals the trachea (the air tube). This prevents water from entering the lungs. The chance that a person would inhale 1 litre of water from the 'immediate gasp response' is somewhere between slim and none.”

So, does water always enter the lungs of a person who is drowning and is that what kills them?

Or does our body, in its efforts to protect us by sealing off our lungs, do the job itself?

Enter Dr. Gordon Giesbrecht, a professor with the University of Manitoba. Giesbrecht, also known as "Dr. Popsicle" is a go-to expert on hypothermia, cold-water immersion and drowning in Canada.

In an email he said that Gilson’s point on what happens when we hit cold water is correct. The reader’s comment that very little if any water enters a drowning person’s lungs is “false.”

“When someone drowns, almost all the time the victim breathes water into the lungs; that is what kills them,” he said.

“In rare situations, reflex closure of the vocal cords can result in dry drowning, with death due to asphyxia; the victim chokes to death. After death, the muscles relax and water flows into the lungs. This is very rare though. Generally, drowning is due to inhaling water into the lungs.”

Anyone interested in riveting descriptions of drowning should pick up a copy of The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger. The book includes details on wet and dry (when your throat closes over) drowning. Junger's descriptions are a compilation of interviews, expert opinion and multiple records of near drowning experiences. Great cottage reading. It gives you an entirely new and justified respect for large bodies of water.

Bonus information: Police Constable Gary Gibson, the officer who taught me to use ice picks with the Marine Unit, noted that anyone who has sucked any quantity of water into their lungs should go to the hospital.

The reason?

Water in the GTA will likely be thick with bacteria.

“You could end up with a lung infection," said Gibson. "Believe it or not, people have died from that."

 

Icy water, what cold does to our bodies and the 1/10/1 rule

Emily Mathieu looks for help after ending up in the icy water of Toronto harbour.

In November I posted some information on cold-water safety training, courtesy of the Canadian Safe Boating Council. In that post, Ian Gilson, on the board of directors, explained that the shock of hitting water below 15 C could cause a person to take a forceful involuntary breath. That means you can inhale up to a litre of water, he says.

It is called the "immediate gasp response" and until last week it was fairly high up on the things that scare me the most about landing in cold water.

But we may have a new blue-ribbon winner.

During the two mornings I spent with the Toronto Police Marine Unit, I was able to sit in on a few hours of class time.

That is where Const. Gavin Bloom shared the 1/10/1 rule.

The police are equipped to rescue you, or your friends could toss you something to drag you to safety. But what happens if you fall in and no one is around?

Bloom teaches the 1/10/1 rule, a simple set of guidelines that could save your life if you take a dunk in icy (the icy part is key) cold water.

1:  If you fall in, you have one minute to regulate your breath and during that time try to scramble out onto safe ice, “get back to your footprints and hold on to that ice," says Bloom.

10: Then you have 10 minutes of meaningful muscle movement. That is a nice way of way of saying you have about 10 minutes, likely less, before your arms and legs become almost useless.

In icy cold water, moving quickly will actually whisk heat away from your body faster than if you remain somewhat still. So thrashing around to keep warm, like you would on land, is not a good idea. If you can, try to get into a ball-type shape to keep heat in your core.

1: Then you have about one hour before hypothermia kicks in. That is about the time when you will likely lose consciousness, says Bloom.

 “When you start to weaken…get to the most secure ice you can and try to keep your arms and head up,” he said.

Here is where the truly disturbing part comes in.

You could freeze your arms to the ice, which if you go unconscious will stop you from sinking.

Bloom admits it is “gruesome,” but the decision to get stuck could be what saves your life.

The police were taught the rule by cold water expert Dr. Gordon Giesbrecht, from the University of Manitoba.  Giesbrecht, or "Dr. Popsicle," basically knows everything there is to know about how cold water effects the body, in part because he uses himself to test out various theories. He is also fond of dunking media personalities in cold water. (Something new to put on the to-do list!)

To be totally honest, I love getting dressed up in safety suits and would gladly spend a few more days falling through the ice, and getting dunked and dragged out of the icy water.

But I have no plans to go anywhere near unfamiliar ice any time soon.

Safety suits, ice picks and buckets of water

I got a chance to spend a good part of two days with the Toronto Police marine unit learning about ice safety and rescue scenarios.

There is too much information to cram into one post, so I will be adding some additional information and tips for the public on ice safety over the next couple weeks. The short version is, don't go out on the ice anywhere in and around Toronto and if your friends, loved ones, or pets go in wait for help.

On top of some classroom time, where I was taught how different types of ice form and the effects of cold water on the body (more on this in another post), I was dressed up in a waterproof suit and allowed to drop through some holes in the ice.

On Day One I got to use ice picks to pull myself out of the water/ do my best impression of an over-caffeinated walrus. By the end of the day my face ached from smiling. I also had a pretty decent oval-shaped sunburn on the small part of my face that was exposed to the elements.

On Day Two we did rescue scenarios. I was the victim. The first rescue was in a pond-like area of Humber Bay Park. I was tossed a rope that I wrapped around my arm so I could be dragged to safety.

Here is the story I wrote about the second rescue scenario.

That said, realizing few things make me happier than getting a workout in a safety suit. So open to suggestions.

P.S. Thanks to the Star's Robyn Doolittle for filming and the Toronto Police for the training, snapping the photos and not leaving me in the water!

Vacations, Christmas photos and falling through the ice

  
 

Dear mom,

Please consider this photo, or one of the series of photos to be posted on thestar.com this  Monday, as my early submission for the 2011 Mathieu family Christmas card.

At first glance it may not convey the same festive feelings as previous classics, leaning on a railing near a pig pen at summer camp, buried in a pile of leaves with my siblings or staring sullenly from the branches of an apple tree.

But, I am wearing red -- and when was the last time you saw me sporting such a natural smile when asked to pose for a photograph? Even with most of my face covered you can tell that the decision to have me wear a head and neck strap with my braces in elementary school totally paid off.

Love, Emily

Back from vacation. Spent a few blissful weeks enjoying lots of takeout from the far corners of the city, walking and spontaneous naps. I was also able to spend a few mornings dressed up in a waterproof suit and crawling into open holes in the ice with members of the Toronto police marine unit.

I will be posting more photos, a video and full story on Monday along with tips about what to do if you, a pet, loved one or friend falls through the ice. Here is a preview: Stay out of the water.

The photo looks mighty impressive. But despite my impulse to skip wildly across the ice waving my ice picks (that thing in my hand that looks like a jump rope), heavy supervision, many warm layers and my helmet meant I was safer than I am boiling water at home.

Hope everyone enjoyed the past few weeks. Thanks to those of you who offered tips on buying tools. Will check out Canadian Tire and Lee Valley Tools on the weekend.