NorCal Kayak Anglers

Kayak Fishing Zone => Safety First => Topic started by: eastonkayaker on January 11, 2018, 05:01:37 PM

Title: Inflatable PFD, Didn't Inflate? Cold Weather?
Post by: eastonkayaker on January 11, 2018, 05:01:37 PM
This happened this morning in MD, I have been thinking about inflatable. Anyone have experience in cold weather?

From Maryland Natural Resources Police

An Anne Arundel County man was rescued Thursday morning from the ice-clogged Patapsco River as he clung to his overturned kayak.

Randall Heath, 46, of Pasadena fell from his boat while duck hunting about a quarter-mile offshore. His life jacket did not inflate and could not get back inside.

An officer patrolling nearby heard the 911 call for help and launched a patrol boat from Stoney Creek at about 10:45. Racing at top speed and picking his way through the ice floes, some six-inches thick, the officer reached the scene in 15 minutes.

“I didn’t see anything. It was a field of ice,” Officer Antonio Colvin said. For 10 minutes, he methodically searched the area until a firefighter on shore guided him by phone to the victim.

Colvin came alongside the nearly submerged kayak, where Heath was trying desperately to stay afloat. The officer maneuvered the victim to the stern of the patrol boat and tied a rope to his belt to keep him from sinking. From there, he wrestled Heath aboard.

"It was amazingly difficult to get him in," Colvin said. "Luckily, the ice quickly reformed around my hull and gave me a nice, steady, level playing field to get him in."

Meanwhile, Anne Arundel County firefighters in survival suits launched a dinghy and began rowing to the scene. Colvin picked them up and they began reviving Heath, who was shivering uncontrollably and unable to speak. The patrol boat fought its way through the ice to the marina at Celebrations on the Bay, where emergency medical technicians were waiting.

Heath was taken to Baltimore-Washington Medical Center for evaluation and further treatment of hypothermia and a broken hand.
Title: Re: Inflatable PFD, Didn't Inflate? Cold Weather?
Post by: Hojoman on January 11, 2018, 05:09:05 PM
Probably the last time he uses an inflatable PFD.
Title: Re: Inflatable PFD, Didn't Inflate? Cold Weather?
Post by: eastonkayaker on January 11, 2018, 05:17:45 PM
Probably the last time he uses an inflatable PFD.

I asked some of my friends on FB who live back there, I was told that some inflatable PFD cannisters freeze up in cold weather, not worth the risk, that guy is fortunate they got to him and to the hospital.
Title: Re: Inflatable PFD, Didn't Inflate? Cold Weather?
Post by: NowhereMan on January 12, 2018, 04:50:45 PM
Never used an inflatable but always assumed that you could manually inflate one if it failed to self-inflate...
Title: Re: Inflatable PFD, Didn't Inflate? Cold Weather?
Post by: E Kayaker on January 12, 2018, 06:25:40 PM
It said the ice reformed around his hull. That sounds prettty cold. I imagine water on the vest froze up pretty quick, maybe blocking the ability to blow it up.
Title: Re: Inflatable PFD, Didn't Inflate? Cold Weather?
Post by: Archie Marx on January 12, 2018, 06:34:02 PM
It said the ice reformed around his hull. That sounds prettty cold. I imagine water on the vest froze up pretty quick, maybe blocking the ability to blow it up.

I think you’re right. The way-too-expensive inflatable pfds that I wear for work have a big warning label: Do not use at or below freezing temps.
Title: Re: Inflatable PFD, Didn't Inflate? Cold Weather?
Post by: piski on January 17, 2018, 03:37:29 PM
It said the ice reformed around his hull. That sounds prettty cold. I imagine water on the vest froze up pretty quick, maybe blocking the ability to blow it up.

I think you’re right. The way-too-expensive inflatable pfds that I wear for work have a big warning label: Do not use at or below freezing temps.

Who reads warning labels on life-saving equipment?
Title: Re: Inflatable PFD, Didn't Inflate? Cold Weather?
Post by: NowhereMan on January 17, 2018, 04:53:33 PM
It said the ice reformed around his hull. That sounds prettty cold. I imagine water on the vest froze up pretty quick, maybe blocking the ability to blow it up.

I think you’re right. The way-too-expensive inflatable pfds that I wear for work have a big warning label: Do not use at or below freezing temps.

Who reads warning labels on life-saving equipment?

The same people who read the end user license agreement (EULA) when installing software...