Education Needed!!

http://www.kare11.com/news/news-article.asp?NEWS_ID=41139

I hate reading this kind of stuff but it happens SO OFTEN!!! Someone needs to formulate some sort of education course regarding ice, safety, and survival. Maybe vehicles should just be banned from ice travel!!! This is just so stupid and yet it’s “ignorant” stupid. So many assume everything’s okay and they don’t even know the danger that lurks!

Guys and Gals, I know a great many of you enjoy the ice season but these warmer winters are wreaking havoc on our “standards” and taking lives.

Yes, I’m venting……………but I’m tired of hearing at least once a week about somebody losing their life on the ice and I don’t hear what’s being done to prevent it accept pleas to “use your head”. Well, if your head isn’t full of the right stuff, it’s not going to do you any good anyway!!! Does anyone know of something out there to educate people about ice, it’s properties, and the latest greatest survival knowledge? I’d like to enroll my family so I can reduce our chances of tragedy in the future.

I understand your point, unfortunately I’m not aware of any formal training/schooling for ice safety. I want to try and relay a story about why a training seminar may not do any good.

I work with a friend of these two kids. His dad came into to see him last night, Dad was pretty upset about a couple things, but mostly the kid drove his new truck on the ice. In his household, that is off limits. Well, needless to say the kid got embarassed for being confronted in public, which lead to him basically ignoring everything his father was saying. When his father left, the kid was still PO’ed, talking about how much of a jerk his dad was. I tried to explain he may seem like a jerk right now, but he just doesn’t want to be going through what those two teens parents are going through. I tried to tell him what may not seem like love, it was. I personally think his dad could have handled the confrontation better, but I also don’t know how things work in their house.

My whole point is this, we can preach to teens about not drinking, doing drugs etc. but until they choose to make that choice, we are wasting our breath. I personally think the parents need to step up and talk with kids, not force feed them opinions. Give kids chances to make choices, let them feel like they have some control in their life. I can remember some conversations with my folks growing up that meant a lot more than the butt chewing I got when I arrived 2 hours late with whiskey on my breath(although I remember those too!).

One last thing, then I’ll quit preaching. Apparently it’s a very cool thing amongst the kids to take their cars out on Tonka, get going 50 – 70 mph and hit the E-brake. Now that does sound fun to me, but I’m not ready to roll my $20k truck. I’ve personally witnessed this several times over the past few days. With the lack of snow, the ice is perfect for screwing around. At those speeds, it takes a long time to stop even if you see a bad spot in the ice.

I wish I had solution for the problem Ken. One thing I know, it’s a sad thing that happened yesterday and I pray none of us ever has to deal with losing a child.

hey i saw a thing on tv a while back that was put out by the coast gaurd on how to get back up on the ice if you go through and how to rescue someone without becoming a victim yourself im sure they have something that can help you out ,

StillaKid,
That’s great that you want to take initiative to educate people on ice safety! I would try contacting places like the Coast Guard, DNR, Water Patrol, Fire Dept., County Sheriff’s Dept., hospitals, or scuba diving teams for information. I’m guessing that if you got a group of people interested that one of those agencies would provide a seminar on ice safety to the general public.
There was a conservation officer in Blue Earth County, MN that fell through the ice after rescuing someone else that I’m sure would be glad to educate people on ice safety. Of course they will tell you that ice is never safe and tell you to never go on it! There will always be ice fatalaties….if there’s ice….someone will find a way to go through it for one reason or another, but if the number of fatalities can be lessened it is a start in the right direction!

I have told people on this board and others I encounter in the community that you need to be prepared for ice safety. Leaving your ice picks in your truck and driving out on your atv is not preparation. If you do fall through those ice picks are probably the only way 99% of people have any chance at getting out. The ice picks should be in your hands outside of your lifevest….that’s where they need to be if you go through….you don’t want to have to think of where they are if it’s a panic/life or death situation. The ice picks can be used to hand over hand pull and crawl your way out of the water onto the ice. When you get out you should roll on your side away from the hole onto the ice in the direction of travel you came from…if possible. Rolling away from the hole spreads the pressure of your weight (which could be double in wet ice fishing gear across a larger area of ice….or less weight per sq. foot. By this time Hypothermia is a severe threat and making it to shore on your own will be difficult for most people. One block or even 100 yards is going to be difficult for person in good health. You should get an ambulance, get out of the wet clothes, and be seen by a Dr. immediately to be treated for hypothermia, frost bite, nerve damage, shock, or other health problems brought on due to extremely adverse physical conditions, etc.

This is by no means a certified safety course, but just my opinion and some personal experiences on what could be used to save yourself when your alone on the ice.

If someone is one the ice with you and has a 50 ft. or longer rope to pull you out….then that could be a great help. This is also a reason to be wearing good/quality ice cleats. When I buy a pair of cleats I look at not only how they will keep me sturdy or standing on the ice, but also whether they will provide enough footing grip in the event that I had to pull another person out of the water onto the ice! Some of those cheap cleats may not fit the bill to save your buddies life!

It is not recommended that you wear a lifevest while traveling inside a vehicle across the ice. If you go down with it on it will hinder your ability to get out of the vehicle. If you have it within hand’s reach inside the vehicle you could drag it out the window and use it to assist you in getting up to the surface.

I probably didn’t answer your question but hopefully it is of some help and gets people to think about what they would do in the situation to save themself or someone else. TGIF