One man died of hypothermia Sunday and another narrowly avoided death after they drove onto a flooded road in Talladega National Forest, officials said.


http://www.annistonstar.com/news/2009/as-local-0303-gdmilldrum-9c02x3757.htm

"They took off their clothing in an attempt to avoid hypothermia.
This was a mistake, said Dr. Neil Christen, the president of the Alabama Chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians, and an ER doctor at Regional Medical Center.
Even wet clothes would have protected them better than their bare skin, he said.
The two stayed on the bank for some time before swimming to the opposite side, Rooks said."

I wonder if they got that idea off of Man VS Wild, I know Bear was preaching that theam for awhile.

I wonder if alcohol was a factor in this incident.

Sue

Once again, you can't fix stupid. Did they really hit the woods with no provision for helping themselves in such a situation? I wonder if Coppock walked into the campsite still wearing little or nothing.

I don't think they intended to hit the woods, they just got stupid driving and got caught up in the flood water.

At least Bear started a fire BEFORE taking his clothes off (to dry them).

Bear had the foresight to start a fire before even getting wet, and to leave a dry jacket beside the fire.

This is what most people who suffer hypothermia do wrong: you're supposed to know about your accident in advance, and prepare by lighting a fire in a nearby location and leaving dry clothing there. Then, when the accident occurs, you run to your fire, change, and warm up.

Quite simple, really.

Precognition: knowing what is going to happen before it happens. Now THERE'S a real survival talent!

Sue

when people panic they do stupid things. seen it before....

Your comment is good Danny L.

But lets not forget about the people who do stupid things and then panic when it goes bad for them.
How did they get the Jeep into 6 feet of water and why were they surprised that the Jeep stalled after they drove it in that deep?

A very big part of survival is not putting yourself into survival situations.

We might be making joking comments about having precognition, but isn't that really what we are trying to have when we are preparing to survive.
If they had a change of dry clothes, emergency blankets, fire starting equipment or even the good sense not to drive into a flood we would not be discussing them now.

Even the most basic kit and the knowledge to use it would have turned this tragedy into just another car stuck in a creek story instead of a death story.

A little bit of thought about the situation they were getting before driving into the water would have made it no story at all.