Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 12/15/2006 - 06:59
Forums
Oden Antarctic Expedition 06

Hi Allan, I am a NEAT teacher from Ohio and am a good friend of Lollie's...so, I read about Gunnar scubadiving to check the props of the Oden.  I am wondering what mil wet suit is thick enough to protect him...did I read in a journal that you would survive only 4 minutes if you fell in the water? 

Thanks!

Chantelle

Tue, 12/19/2006 - 13:17

Allan Miller

Right now the water temperature is reading 1.5 degrees C or just about 35 fahrenheit - I asked our ship's physician, Dr. Krister Ekblad from Sweden and he said for most people death would come very quickly - with 1-2 minutes, since the extreme cold water would lead to muscle contractions and a gasp reflex almost immediately - making it very difficult to swim or even tread water.  If you managed to stay afloat - the max he suggested for survival would be 7-8 minutes before hypothermia and loss of consciousness would lead to your drowning.Gunnar was diving in a full body dry neoprene suit of 5 mm thickness - he said it's very clumsy to work with, but would protect him from hypothermia for up to 8 hours in the water if necessary.  Our survival suits - the orange one's that I put in a previous post - are designed to keep us alive up to six hours and their material is about 3 mm thick.