The UK’s Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) published a video advising what one can do to float on water and not drown. Following its ‘Respect the water’ campaign, falling into cold water shocks the body.
Accordingly, five steps to flow:
- Fight your instinct to thrash around
- Lean back, extend your arms and legs
- If you need to, gently move your arms and legs to help you float
- Float until you can control your breathing
- Only then, call for help or swim to safety
Moreover, RNLI highlights that clothing and footwear improves buoyancy during the first moments in the water, because it traps air between the layers when ones falls in. Moving less helps the air stay trapped, helping a person to float.
When put to the test, most people found floating easier than they anticipated, particularly in thicker winter clothes.
The Institution further notes that air in the body, such as the gut and lungs, and body fat are lighter than water – that’s why people can float.
Regarding clothes that help one float easier, in 2019, the USCG saved a man who managed to transform his pair of jeans into a life jacket that kept him afloat for more than three hours before being rescued.
