2017-2018
News Release
REF NO.: 52
SUBJECT: Helicopters are not cars: Why the differences are important when giving survival advice
DATE: March 2, 2018
Up to 10 per cent of all drownings occur in motor vehicles. The tragedy is that most victims are otherwise uninjured and could escape, and survive, if they knew what to do. Until recently, there has been very little research and training related to sinking vehicles.
At the Ocean Safety Talks Research event on Tuesday, March 6, Dr. Gordon Giesbrecht, professor of thermophysiology in the Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management, University of Manitoba, will share his extensive research in cold water survival and drowning prevention in helicopters and motor vehicles. This event is hosted by the Marine Institute’s Offshore Safety Research unit and is co-sponsored by Memorial University’s School of Human Kinetics and Recreation.
Members of the media are encouraged to attend.
Dr. Giesbrecht studies human responses to exercise and work in extreme environments. He has conducted hundreds of cold water immersion studies that have provided life-saving information about physiology and pre-hospital care for human hypothermia. Having conducted more than 100 vehicle submersions to study survival and exit strategies in sinking vehicles, he has helped create instructional educational programs for drowning prevention and treatment, and written protocols used by Emergency Response Operators around the world.
Also known as “Professor Popsicle,” Dr. Giesbrecht has been featured in Outdoor Magazine, Late Show with David Letterman, The Nature of Things, Rick Mercer Report, Discovery Channel, National Geographic Channel and national network news in Canada and the U.S.
Ocean Safety Talks Research takes place Tuesday, March 6, 2:30 p.m. in the Hampton Hall Lecture Theatre, Fisheries and Marine Institute, 155 Ridge Rd, St. John's.
REF NO.: 52
SUBJECT: Helicopters are not cars: Why the differences are important when giving survival advice
DATE: March 2, 2018
Up to 10 per cent of all drownings occur in motor vehicles. The tragedy is that most victims are otherwise uninjured and could escape, and survive, if they knew what to do. Until recently, there has been very little research and training related to sinking vehicles.
At the Ocean Safety Talks Research event on Tuesday, March 6, Dr. Gordon Giesbrecht, professor of thermophysiology in the Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management, University of Manitoba, will share his extensive research in cold water survival and drowning prevention in helicopters and motor vehicles. This event is hosted by the Marine Institute’s Offshore Safety Research unit and is co-sponsored by Memorial University’s School of Human Kinetics and Recreation.
Members of the media are encouraged to attend.
Dr. Giesbrecht studies human responses to exercise and work in extreme environments. He has conducted hundreds of cold water immersion studies that have provided life-saving information about physiology and pre-hospital care for human hypothermia. Having conducted more than 100 vehicle submersions to study survival and exit strategies in sinking vehicles, he has helped create instructional educational programs for drowning prevention and treatment, and written protocols used by Emergency Response Operators around the world.
Also known as “Professor Popsicle,” Dr. Giesbrecht has been featured in Outdoor Magazine, Late Show with David Letterman, The Nature of Things, Rick Mercer Report, Discovery Channel, National Geographic Channel and national network news in Canada and the U.S.
Ocean Safety Talks Research takes place Tuesday, March 6, 2:30 p.m. in the Hampton Hall Lecture Theatre, Fisheries and Marine Institute, 155 Ridge Rd, St. John's.
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