After hearing about many people falling through the ice, Steve Kelly from WOOD-FM reached out and asked me to do a reminder on safety. Over the past weekend we read about the three guys in Allegan and the two guys in Fruitport going through. For those of us that follow the chat boards and facebook groups, we have heard of many others.
So I felt it was time to just put out there a reminder to take and use your spud when walking out on the ice. Our roller coaster weather in Michigan has given us a dangerous season. Springs, creeks, and storm drains all can erode ice from below. These can be difficult to see when you have snow covered ice. Three hard whacks with a sharp spud can give you a lot of confidence walking out. Don’t go alone! Personally a floating ice suit is an additional comfort when venturing out. Many of you have your ice picks, but where do you have them? Zippered up in a hard to reach pocket? Nicely wrapped up in your bucket? I like to replace the string on them with some paracord and put them through the sleeves of my coat. Yes, just like grandma did with my mittens. I want them where they are useful if I go in or need to crawl out to rescue someone else.
When it comes time to talk rescue, one of the keys is to make sure your not going in as well. 25-30 feet of rope can really help keep you dry during a rescue. Mine have clips on the ends so I can attach a PFD or even my sled to help get it out to the person in the water. I just use paracord and some carabiners in a small stuff sack. Amazon has one for under 20 bucks that you can take on the boat in the summer as well. I also am a fan of some real aggressive slip protection. I wear Kahtoolas, but there are a lot of aggressive brands out there, just find some that meet your needs and give you the traction to pull on that rope or climb that hill back to the truck.
After you get them out of the ice, the next few minutes are critical. Get them to the truck, or other shelter and get the wet clothes off the victim. I have found that several of my friends have swimming pools and buy chemicals in buckets with screw top lids. I repurposed one into my dry bucket. Sweatpants, hoodie and some slippers. All easy to get on. I tried the jeans over cold wet legs once, once. If you have room in your dry kit an old towel is a smart addition. After you have them dry get them to a warm place. The day is over, you want to watch to make sure they don’t need medical attention. Hypothermia is nothing to mess with.
In summary, be safe out there guys.
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