How to escape a sinking car!

A Manitoba couple who managed to escape when their truck landed in a sinkhole did everything right, according to a cold water safety expert.

The pair tried to drive across what looked like a large puddle, but which turned out to be a sinkhole that swiftly swallowed their car, according to an article by the Canadian Press.

The first thing they did was roll down their windows, which allowed them to escape. They also managed to save their dog.

“I would like to find out how they knew to get out of the window right away, but am very happy that they knew that,” said Manitoba Prof. Gordon Giesbrecht in an interview with the Star.

“Bottom line is, if they hadn’t done that they would have died.”

Giesbrecht, also dubbed Dr. Popsicle, is known as a cold water safety expert and has staged several experiments with sinking cars in water to learn more about the best way to get out.

The simple answer? Get your windows down and get out while the vehicle is still floating!

Giesbrecht said unfortunately over the years people have been taught that you want to stay in the car until it sinks, allowing the pressure to equalize so you can open the doors. By that time the car is at the bottom of a body of water and your chances of getting out and to the top are very slim, he said.

“Every second that goes by your chances of survival go down and after the first minute they drop precipitously,” said Giesbrecht. 

"When you vehicle ends up in the water the event will be over in three minutes one way or another. Your best chance of survival is in the first minute."

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!

Why hot chocolate is good if you've fallen into cold water

Of all the things I have ever read about the importance of life jackets when it comes to water safety or survival, the “immediate gasp response” has to be the most effective.

Ian Gilson, on the board of directors for the Canadian Safe Boating Council, said there are a number of things that happen to the human body once it lands in water 15 C and below. One of the first: Your blood vessels constrict.

“Your heart has to pump harder to provide that same volume of blood throughout your body, which is why some people have a heart attack at that particular point,” he said.

The immediate gasp response (shudder) also happens almost immediately after you take the plunge. Basically the shock and submersion causes you to breathe in forcefully, said Gilson.

What if you fall in the lake in November?

An analyst checks the core temperature of an RCMP officer wearing a floater suit during a Cold Water Boot Camp in Port Credit.