A Tried and True Approach to Escaping from Sinking Vehicles —And The Guy Behind the Testing

He’s affectionately called “Dr. Popsicle,” a label that stuck from a magazine article about this modern-day Houdini who can escape unscathed from frigid water and sunken vehicles, although he doesn't go down into the cold depths shackled in chains. It’s his job, his interest, and something the media likes to cover because it’s “sexy,” which means his research doesn’t have to clamor for attention. He’s been featured in several big-name magazines and television channels, including a feature article in Outside, which, in 2003, described him resolutely skiing into frigid water, hauling 180 pounds piled on sledges the length of Lake Winnipeg for 26 days, planning an 800-mile trek across the Canadian high Arctic, and having a colleague inject two quarts of nearly frozen saline solution into his bloodstream over a one-hour period.  He likes the coverage, but personal attention is not his intention. “I care about the message getting out, not being in the media,” said Gordon Giesbrecht, PhD., Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada. “There’s a lot of very important research being done that doesn’t help people because it doesn’t get reported. There are good messages that lack the flashiness.” Dr. Popsicle, Thermophysiologist Giesbrecht is a world-renowned thermophysiologist; he studies the effects of cold on the human body in some extreme studies. He immerses himself into cold-water to the point of ...
Source: JEMS Operations - Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Tags: Training Rescue & Vehicle Extrication Operations Source Type: news