With late ice quickly approaching here in the north country. It is a great time to look over ice safety. Anyone who has been out on early ice or late ice any amount of time has either fallen through, or has known someone who has. The icy reality of things is that your life depends on you or those you are fishing with. Wrap this around your head, how long can a person survive in the water? Now imagine someone having to call 911 for help (provided you have service and or a cell phone) , the response time for those to get to you, establish a plan and get you out? Imagine what would happen if you were to be out there by yourself? What are the chances someone sees, or hears you? The response time is much longer than what you think. A chilling fact is that cold water robs the body of heat 25 to 30 times faster than air temps. Those that fall in, a majority of deaths are caused by hypothermia, not by water in lungs.
A few early or late ice must haves include a pair of spikes. They are cheap, easy to carry and even if you never have to use them. They are a nice thing to have in case. You never know. A personal floatation device or some sort of throw-able cushion or life jacket is another insurance item to have to help a person stay afloat. The third and final thing is a long rope that can be tossed out to the victim.
I will go over a few scenarios on how to self rescue should you or your fishing buddy falls in.
When you do go through the ice. Go towards the last spot you were on before you fell in. Chances are the ice is safer that direction than continue going out. At this point, hopefully you have the ice spikes readily available. (they are designed to be draped around your neck like a necklace.) Put a spike into each hand and reach as far up onto the ice as you can and slam the spike into the ice. Then take the next one and do the same. Pull your self and kick, as you are doing this, pull one spike out of the ice and reach forward again and slam that one home. Repeat this until you have pulled yourself out of the hole. It is important to not stand up immediately, roll away from the hole, as this will help spread the weight out across the ice and help reduce your chances of falling in again.
If your partner falls in, it is very critical that you do not run or walk up to the hole. You can very easily put yourself in as well. First thing to try is to talk to them. Keep them calm, instruct them to come towards the spot they fell in. If possible starting Fire/water rescue at the earliest moment can be invaluable. Once a person falls in, it is never to early to call. If they have spikes, remind them to use them. If they do not have the spikes and you do not either. Instruct them to reach for anything they can to pull on and to kick their feet, if they can get up, instruct them to roll towards you. If they can not self rescue and you do not have anything prepared for such a case, it is time to get creative to get them out. If your dragging a sled, can you cut the rope to toss to them. Do you have an underwater camera? Unwrapping the camera cable and tossing them the camera may not be the best on the camera or the cable, but it may make the difference in saving one’s life. If your close to shore, is there a long branch, boards, etc to lean out to the person in the water.
If you do fall in and all attempts at self rescue has been exhausted. Place your arms up onto the ice. Let your arms freeze to the ice. This will help keep your head above water and those in the area to see you. This will also help conserve your energy as you will not have to be treading water. One of the biggest misconceptions falling through the ice is to take your heavy clothes off. This is not true as more than likely that apparel will help trap air in and help you float. Now one thing to remember, when help does arrive, they are going to ask you a few simple questions. Answer them clearly. They will ask you what happened, were you walking, were you in a vehicle. Is there anyone else there with you. Are you hurt? How long have you been there? If the rescuers must get in the water to remove you, you must do exactly what the rescuer instructs you do to.
I recently got to take a plunge through the ice in a semi controlled environment as part of my ice water rescue training through the fire department I work for. Enjoy the pictures! It was a lot of fun in the mustang suits and in a very controlled environment, however taking the plunge while doing what I love, get me awfully nervous.
Drive the spikes in!
Kick and pull!
Come out the direction you came.
With that, think of somethings you have with you should you or friend fall in. Some small inexpensive items can be the difference in a close call and everyone goes home, or something far worse.
I wish everyone a safe and enjoyable last 4 to 6 weeks of ice season! Be smart, stay safe and try to stay dry! No fish is worth it! See you on the ice!
