The Maritime and Coastguard Agency are offering sensible advice during this particularly cold period. Ed
The roads might be clear from last week’s snow, but that still doesn’t mean you can assume everything is safe. The hidden danger of ice could be lurking right underneath your feet and you won’t know it until it’s too late.
Scientists say it takes several weeks of freezing temperatures in order for ice to be safe enough to walk on, and even then, there are risks.
“There’s no such thing as safe ice”
Dave Wooder, Watch Manager at Liverpool Coastguard, in warning the public about venturing out on thin ice said
“There’s no such thing as safe ice. If you do go through the ice, you could face frostbite, hypothermia and ultimately death if you are not rescued fast enough.
“If you’re going out anyway in poor weather take your mobile phone with you; because it’s cold out there, and you never know when you might need it in an emergency”.
“Just recently in Northern Ireland, a man was out angling on Lough Erne in his 2.4 metre open boat, when he got into difficulty and ended up in the water. His boat, which was powered by an electric outboard, hit ice on the lough and the man, who is in his 30s, ended up in the water and needed treatment for hypothermia.
Wear a lifejacket if angling
“Different conditions can affect how the water freezes, so every body of water is different and it can change from day-to-day, or week-to-week. For example, the type of vegetation at the bottom of the water, whether or not there are geese or ducks congregating around, or wind can all affect the water’s freezing ability.
“If you’re going angling near open water make sure you’re wearing a lifejacket. It can keep you afloat and it has some warmth. It’s also easy to attach a whistle to the jacket; yelling for help would wear you out quickly, so a whistle can help in an emergency.
“If you do fall through the ice, try not to panic. You’re going to take a deep breathe when you go in, and you’re going to suck some water in. You have to fight through that and that urge to panic. In that first stage, find something to hold on to whilst your gasping and suffering from ‘cold shock’. Once you get yourself calmed down, you’re going to get really cold really fast. You’re going to have about 10 minutes where you can actually do stuff and then your fine motor skills will start to fail, your fingers are going to be so cold, you’re not going to be able to grab hold of stuff. You’re going to have to pull yourself up with your elbows, your arms, and kick.”
If you do fall in but are able to get out, Dave Wooder said you should roll yourself in the same direction to shore the same way you walked in because you know that area of ice is stable.
Image: Lula Tahula under CC BY 2.0
