January 26, 2010
The cold hard facts of freezing to death
Peter Stark in Outside:
In fact, many hypothermia victims die each year in the process of being rescued. In "rewarming shock," the constricted capillaries reopen almost all at once, causing a sudden drop in blood pressure. The slightest movement can send a victim's heart muscle into wild spasms of ventricular fibrillation. In 1980, 16 shipwrecked Danish fishermen were hauled to safety after an hour and a half in the frigid North Sea. They then walked across the deck of the rescue ship, stepped below for a hot drink, and dropped dead, all 16 of them.
More here.
Posted by Abbas Raza at 05:17 AM | Permalink
Comments
Wow! Just Wow!
1997 already.
I'm NEVER leaving Georgia again.
And you moved to the Italian Alps already? On purpose?
Posted by: John Ballard | Jan 26, 2010 6:44:59 AM
Bloody chilling.
Posted by: Cyrus Hall | Jan 26, 2010 7:49:06 AM
Great piece. Abbas, would you like to come on a walk in the Dolomites with us? *heh heh*
Posted by: Bill | Jan 26, 2010 9:55:02 AM
Anytime, Bill. When are we going? :-)
Posted by: Abbas Raza | Jan 26, 2010 11:13:53 AM
It's okay, the world is significantly warmer than it was in 1997 when the piece was written so you're safe.
Posted by: Scott | Jan 26, 2010 1:11:37 PM
Sorry guys, but the 16 shipwrecked Danish fishermen dropping dead, all of them, is an urban, well oceanic myth. . . . Never happened.
Posted by: Pat | Jan 26, 2010 1:18:34 PM
Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.
Posted by: J.Hawkins | Jan 26, 2010 1:51:20 PM
What a brilliant piece, even with the urban myth. Had me riveted.
Posted by: Ivor Tymchak | Jan 26, 2010 1:56:04 PM
Pat, the story is briefly cited in Bill Streever's book Cold, and also in Until the Sea Shall Set Them Free by Robert Frump. Streever gives the date as 1979 and Frump, like the article here, as 1980.
But you might be right. I can't find anything online to confirm the story. Do you have any other material which might prove the case one way or the other?
Posted by: Abbas Raza | Jan 26, 2010 1:58:45 PM
There is no mention in Lexus Nexis or Historic New York Times. Must be a myth.
Posted by: J.Hawkins | Jan 26, 2010 2:12:07 PM
Abbas, good call on Peter's piece. Gripping. But the anekdote about the 16 has been around the internet for some time, each refering to another.
Common sense dictates that 16 various men in sizes and shapes drop dead at the same time is not very likely. Second, Danish statistics report no 16 deaths:
http://bookit.bibits.no/pls/bookit12/pkg_www_misc.print_index?in_user_id=opac_st&in_password=opac-_st&in_ccl_query=1980
But still, a good anekdote to make a point.
Posted by: Pat | Jan 26, 2010 2:13:51 PM
The image is a photo of Big Foot killed at Wounded Knee.
Posted by: Harry | Jan 26, 2010 3:53:00 PM
Tibetan Buddhist monks can raise the skin temperature of their hands and feet by 15 degrees through meditation.
Abbas, think "yoga" before you venture out into the Dolomites. Seriously.
Except for the panic of knowing that you are freezing to death, this is actually not a bad way to go in the physical sense. Probably more comfortable than most. Still, I am happy to be living in Houston.
Posted by: Ruchira | Jan 26, 2010 4:49:49 PM
Ruchira,
Seems hypothermia can kill you just about anywhere:
Freezing in the Hospital
Posted by: Louise Gordon | Jan 26, 2010 6:53:23 PM
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