Cold Cold Cold!

Its been raining cats and dogs the past few days and coaching in the rain, really is no fun. You're cold, wet and chest deep in water, keeping an eye on the students. But, the crummy weather did provide learning opportunities.

Knowledge isnt enough.
One of the students was showing mild signs of hypothermia, he was shivering and his fingertips were pale and turning bluish. I told them that cotton made you lose body heat abt 20 times faster than usual, thats why they feel cold, yet I didn't think of asking the guy with hypothermia to take off his shirt when we reached shelter.

Self Reliance.
As I started coaching with Water-Venture which provides stuff like towlines, aquapacs, and a first aid kit in the office, I have been dependent on the club supplying all the necessary equipment. To avoid being over dependent, I am currently developing my towline and have put together a simple First Aid Kit, using a sandwich sized waterproof Lock & Lock container.
It currently contains the following:

1. band aids
2. sterile gauze
3. tube of antiseptic cream
4. alcohol swabs
5. tweezers
6. forceps
7. 3M Transpore tape

I plan to include a pack of heating pads too.