Sudden Cold Water Immersion (SCWI) - with Ben Watts and Jamie Pattison
In this session we are speaking with Ben Watts and Jamie Pattison, both World Extreme Medicine faculty and retrieval/specialist paramedics. We wanted to both address and highlight the dangers of sudden cold-water immersion and do a deep dive into some of the pathophysiological pathways that occur. This is both in-light of recent events but also prospectively to promote discussion around the very real danger of cold-water immersion. Both Ben and Jamie have worked and indeed do work in the highlands of Scotland where temperatures frequently fall below zero. We know that upon water entry a series of physiological responses are evoked via cooling of the skin, superficial nerves and muscles in the limbs, and finally deep body tissue, all of which can result in hazardous outcomes. For further reading on this topic check out the articles below https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022346812007166 https://www.bmj.com/content/350/bmj.h418.long https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(03)15057-X/fulltext https://www.wemjournal.org/article/S1080-6032(22)00141-7/fulltext https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0300957203002375