Citation

Farstad DJ, Dunn JA. Wilderness Environ. Med. 2019; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

Division of Surgery, UCHealth Medical Center of the Rockies, Loveland, CO.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.wem.2019.03.005

PMID

31178366

Abstract

Sudden death during whitewater recreation often occurs through understandable mechanisms such as underwater entrapment or trauma, but poorly defined events are common, particularly in colder water. These uncharacterized tragedies are frequently called flush drownings by whitewater enthusiasts. We believe the condition referred to as cold water immersion syndrome may be responsible for some of these deaths. Given this assumption, the physiologic alterations contributing to cold water immersion syndrome are reviewed with an emphasis on those factors pertinent to flush drowning.

Copyright © 2019 Wilderness Medical Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

drowning; kayaking; water sports