Originally Posted by
framer
possibly stupid . . . . pax into the river with a water temp of about 5 degrees C . Everyone involved would already be going into shock, some probably can't even swim. For a fit person the 'exhaustion time' is about 20mins at that temp and expected survival time of 30-90 mins.
Having done it these times are very generous.
We were in a moderate sea with a water temp of about 2 deg C. I was wearing immersion gloves and some 5 - 10 yards from the life raft. The copilot had to re-enter the water and 'rescue' me. we both wore buoyancy aids. He reached me and was then hauled back with a rope. I was boarded inthe liferaft and he was hauled in second.
He was in the water for no more than a minute or two having previously been in the water about 2 minutes. his hands were locked like claws and he was in hypothermic shock. After about 20-30 minutes he had recovered sufficiently to be very sick. Had he not been in the liferaft he would not have lasted 5 minutes let alone 20.