Video of Instinctive Drowning Response

by Mario July 28, 2011

Drowning signs aren’t like the movies: wivb.com Another (more recent) example of the Instinctive Drowning Response

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Cecily Tynan’s Report on Childhood Drowning Prevention

by Mario July 1, 2011

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Good Guard Bad Guard

Thumbnail image for Good Guard Bad Guard by Mario June 4, 2011

It’s July and hot outside and you head to the neighborhood pool for the day.  The kids want to swim and you just want to be doing nothing for awhile.  Everyone files through the gate as you scan for an open lounge chair and your friends.  The kids have sunscreen on, you have your book, [...]

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Children on Boats are Still Children

Thumbnail image for Children on Boats are Still Children by Mario April 24, 2011

This morning I received an email from a reader who was struggling with a boating safety question.  She and her husband enjoy the water and and they have two small children and they just couldn’t seem to get together on one issue: How much supervision is enough out there on the water?  She gave me [...]

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She’ll Save You

Thumbnail image for She’ll Save You by Mario March 17, 2011

My friend, Sara Faulkner, is one of only four women currently serving as helicopter rescue swimmers in the U.S. Coast Guard. Here she is being interviewed after a rescue she was involved in late last year. Video 1 Video 2

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You Don’t Know What You’ve Got – Your Radio and DSC

Thumbnail image for You Don’t Know What You’ve Got – Your Radio and DSC by Mario February 27, 2011

If you’re out on the water and things go badly -fire, taking on water, man overboard, etc - you really need to work the problem.  Seconds may count but you also need to get on the radio and make a call.  If things go bad, really bad, you have to call “Mayday” – wait for a response [...]

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Two is One – One is None

Thumbnail image for Two is One – One is None by Mario December 13, 2010

My older brother and I have this thing about phone tag.  It takes four calls and three messages (typically laugh-out-loud funny messages) before one of us is not too busy to answer.  So I was really surprised the other day when I called his number and he answered – because the man was definitely too busy. [...]

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It Doesn’t Have to Be Summer

Thumbnail image for It Doesn’t Have to Be Summer by Mario November 13, 2010

The Consumer Product Safety Commission receives reports every year of drownings that occur in water sources (and other liquids) not normally associated with drownings – things found in an around landlocked homes without pools. Understanding that it happens (however rarely) and why and how it happens can be all it takes to make sure it doesn’t happen to you.

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Staying Alive in Cold Water (1-10-1)

Thumbnail image for Staying Alive in Cold Water (1-10-1) by Mario October 24, 2010

I couldn’t feel my hands anymore and using them was impossible. The shivering was uncontrollable and violent. “That’s a good sign,” I thought to myself. I remembered from my studies of hypothermia that shivering stops before you lose consciousness. “If I’m still shivering than I’ll live for a while longer”, I reasoned. But mostly I was wondering about how I got myself into that mess.

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The Truth About Cold Water

Thumbnail image for The Truth About Cold Water by Mario October 21, 2010

I’m going to come right out and tell you something that almost no one in the maritime industry understands. That includes mariners, executives, managers, insurers, dock workers, for certain – fisherman, and even many (most) rescue professionals: It is impossible to get hypothermic in cold water unless you are wearing flotation, because without flotation – [...]

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