Thread: Cold Water

Last year I met a policeman, socially, we were both on holiday. For a policeman he didn't talk much shop, but one of the things he said caught my interest. He was a member of a police helicopter crew and they were regularly called to situations involving cold water. This was because it had been noticed that "On more than half the occasions that police attended a situation involving cold running water a fatality was involved" His phrasing, well he is a policeman, but that was not all. No matter how annoying they can be most British policemen are decent people and a lot of them were dying themselves attempting to save these victims, on one occasion several policemen were drowned trying to save a girl who had gone into the sea after her dog. We don't realise, in waist deep water with a walking pace current you can not stand up and if it is cold as well a would be rescuer who is a first class swimmer has about fifteen seconds to act before he becomes the second victim.
That made me think, I used to do a lot of water sports when I was younger and I am a keen fisherman, I spend a lot of time around water and have a lot of respect for it, on two occasions I have pulled someone out, both times in summer and still water, but I would still have tried if conditions had been different, I started paying real attention. Once it had been explained it seems obvious, get downstream, get something across, get it at an angle. This means that the current sweeps them into it and then into the bank, rather than under and away when they can't hold on any longer. Rule one don't go into the water unless you happen to be wearing a wet suit, gloves, boots, helmet and face mask. Rule two, there is no rule two, use all available means to keep them afloat/get them out. What happened to the dog that the girl went in for? As I remember it was fine, a dogs fur traps a layer of air around it giving it buoyancy and insulation we do not have. It is never worth going into the water to save a dog, if they can not save themselves neither will you.


Before any animal rights type people get on my case I am not a fisherman, I wanted to engage the attention of fishermen because they spend so much time around water. I would have put a number on the number of police who died trying to save the girl but I am unsure if it was three or four and it just seems too heartless to say three or four people drowned. I find it hard trying to write about death in a light enough way that people stay engaged. Thanks for reading, ollybuckle.com

It surprises me that 70 people have viewed and no comments, I must have got it perfect! It also pleases me to think that if there have been 70 views and say half read it there is an outside chance it might have saved a life.

Passed ninety views, still no critisim, must be the best thing I ever wrote!

Oily Buckle, you put a grin on my face.

Ignorance is bliss, my friend.

This was OK. Personally, not my kind of reading, and so I'm really just wondering what kind of market this is pushed toward. What kind?

sorry to say it badly needs a thorough proofread/edit... many little punctuation, syntax, etc. goofs need fixing... if you intend to submit this, you can send it to me for a complete going-over if you want... here's just a few of the things needing correction:

Last year I met a policeman, socially, we were both on holiday. [2 sentences tacked together with a comma] For a policeman, he didn't talk much shop, but one of the things he said caught my interest. He was a member of a police helicopter crew and they were regularly called to situations involving cold water. This was because [rationale here makes no sense... he'd be called not because a trend was noticed, but because of the situation needing attention at the moment]it had been noticed that, "On more than half the occasions that police attended a situation involving cold running water a fatality was involved." His phrasing, well he is a policeman, but that was not all.[derogatory 'well' bit not relevant and unnecessarily negative]

apologies for having overlooked your post for so long...

love and hugs, maia
maia3maia@hotmail.com

Thank you
Eiji; Didn't really think about the reader when I wrote this. I had been on holiday with Martin (the policeman) chatting, it caught my attention and seemed the sort of information that should be disseminated
.
Maia; The derogatory and negative bit was poking fun at the stereotypical traditional British policeman's solid, matter of fact way of speaking to lighten up a piece that is actually about something rather grim, It obviously didn't work for you and it was lazy of me using stereotypes, re think most needed.
The rational did make sense in the original conversation, The trend was noticed, the research done and it was made mandatory for a helicopter to attend incidents involving cold water, one of those things where I have slid over part of the original and lost part of the content.
Thank you for your offer, I have no idea where one could submit a piece like this, I had no further agenda beyond writing it but I would like a larger audience if I could find one.
Thanks again, this is what I would consider a helpful post, it has made me think.

Thanks again, this is what I would consider a helpful post, it has made me think.

glad to know it worked as intended... hugs, m

I read it and didn't know what to say to you. I need to leave a comment though so I'll say that your post made for an interesting snippet, and i'll remember what you've said the next time I'm in a 'cold water situation'.

Thank you Joanna Mac, you don't have to post, sorry if you feel I forced you. It's a nice thought that someone might remember it at an appropriate moment, thank you for reading and posting