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What to do?

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Gyre
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What to do?

Postby Gyre » Wed May 13, 2020 11:25 pm

Recent situation: very cold water, steady moderate wind. I see another kiter in the water with his kite intact, but the QR apparently activated. He's making no attempt to relaunch. He's wearing a drysuit but is a few hundred metres off shore. Board way behind him out of reach. I kite past him close and he seems to be just floating there, head out of water, but barely moving. I yell at him and he gives a very weak-looking I think thumbs-up; barely turns his head. I carry his board close to him three times, but every time he doesn't seem to make any effort to get it. Now I'm worried that he's hypothermic or hit his head and is only partly conscious. I know he'll eventually drift into shore but it will be another 10-15 minutes before he gets there.

What do you do? I felt pretty useless. Decided to land at the closest piece of beach (a crappy alternative landing spot), secure my kite ASAP, then I was planning on swimming out with my board to attempt a rescue (from half-remembered lifeguarding from my teens; also I was in a drysuit and impact vest so I would have been OK with the swim). But by the time I'd negotiated the landing and secured my kite, he'd drifted almost to shore so in the end I just kept eyes on him and grabbed his kite when it got close enough. He stood up slowly and walked to shore and seemed OK though still weird (wanted me to relaunch his kite even though his board was nowhere to be seen). I suspect mild hypothermia and/or embarrassment. Anyway, I parked his kite on the land and left (his buddy had arrived by this time).

Thing is, if he had been really hypothermic or concussed, he probably would have died during the time I was going in to get rid of my kite and come back out for him.

So what do you do in this situation without becoming part of the problem yourself??

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Re: What to do?

Postby grigorib » Thu May 14, 2020 4:05 am

Depending how dire situation is you might choose to bring his board on shore first then ride back next to him, tell him to hold on the back strap of your harness and holding you board in front of you bodydrag-tow him to shore.

Calling coast guard or police is an option. Leaving his board behind there if time is precious is another consideration.
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Toby
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Re: What to do?

Postby Toby » Thu May 14, 2020 11:55 am

Let me tell you a similar story:

3 friends and me went kitesurfing from shore in Egypt to an island several kilometer away.
Sun was setting, so we decided to ride back.
2 went ahead and I was in the middle, and after about 1 km I noticed one buddy had his kite down...and no sign of the kite moving in any direction to relaunch it. Back then, we had bigger kites that were hard to relaunch (2004 I think).

So I went back to him and was shouting commands on how to relaunch (he was also experienced). But he didn't move at all ! No reaction whatsoever...just being dragged behind his kite, head up, but like mind absent, as you reported.

So I told him I will go to the kite and help relaunch. So I grab the kite and drag it to the wind window, trying to flip it onto its side...takes about 5-10 min until we managed it. By then he was acting again and got the kite up.

We then kited back and all is well. Once we landed the kite, he came to me and thanked me for saving his life...since he was not capable to do anything. Not sure whats the word for it, but maybe it is hypothermia. Guess it is a state of shock that not made him to anything.

Luckily the water is warm. But if it is colder water, and we would have lost sight of him (his kite was dark blue, almost impossible to spot it), things would have been way worse, like what happened to the 19 year old girl that died in Germany in 2007.

Cold water is very dangerous, so be warned. I personally experienced how cold water can take your energy...I almost drowned too (that water had 16°C).

In your case grigorib already advised well. First take his board and keep an eye on him...once back, drag him in. If his condition is bad, forget the board and drag him in immediately.
If the kite makes problems, have him release it completely, and drag him in, get the kite later. Or someone else can help too with all these tasks.
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Re: What to do?

Postby Gyre » Thu May 14, 2020 12:46 pm

"So I went back to him and was shouting commands on how to relaunch (he was also experienced). But he didn't move at all ! No reaction whatsoever...just being dragged behind his kite, head up, but like mind absent, as you reported."

That sounds exactly the same! I can picture it... thought he was dead or unconscious. I wonder if this is a thing -- literally a kind of shock, like you said. I forgot one detail: when we got back to shore, my guy said that he'd been launched by a gust, and had pulled the QR after that happened. So maybe after that happened he was just freaked out and overwhelmed, and kind of paralyzed.

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Re: What to do?

Postby downunder » Thu May 14, 2020 1:19 pm

Something happened with Toby's posts in recent time.

Not 100% sure but the reply does not sound like Toby, but someone else :)

The language this Toby is using is way more sophisticated, way more advanced and natural. Some serious difference which I would love to learn myself :)

Can u give me some advice on this Toby?

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Re: What to do?

Postby Toby » Thu May 14, 2020 1:36 pm

Nothing changed, only that I am stuck in Germany 🙄

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Re: What to do?

Postby TheJoe » Thu May 14, 2020 1:59 pm

I would have talked to the guy a little more and made sure he was all right. If it was serious enough of a situation I would have tried to get him to hold on to my harness to drag him to shore faster. If that failed I would try and get him to release the kite so I could pull him in.

If you are wondering if someone has altered mental status you can ask basic questions. What day is it, who is the president/PM (insert countries leader), where are you, etc etc... Simple question you too know the answer to.

I would never swim after someone I'm not a strong enough swimmer for that. I all so tell people to not go swimming after lost boards. This actually happened a few weeks ago. A beginner got in trouble and could not get his kite to relaunch. Older used kite and light wind with a very strong current that day as the tide was coming in at the time. The spot is actually by one of our ports and sees a lot of large container ships traffic. The channel is probably 500 yards from this beach. I don't care how good of a swimmer you are your not getting out of that situation if one of those ships are coming in or out of the port. Gear is really cheap compared to your life.

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Re: What to do?

Postby grigorib » Thu May 14, 2020 3:40 pm

TheJoe wrote:
Thu May 14, 2020 1:59 pm
...
If you are wondering if someone has altered mental status you can ask basic questions. What day is it, who is the president
...
That could give some people stroke on top of potential concussion :) yet it might really bing a person to reality. Then again he might think “oh, screw this shit” and stop fighting for his own life

Good point though!

My favorite stroke question I came up with is what’s a square root of negative four. I thought that if mom can’t answer that’s not good at all
Last edited by grigorib on Thu May 14, 2020 4:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: What to do?

Postby Toby » Thu May 14, 2020 3:58 pm

Yes, good point Joe.

My bad situation was like that...maybe 50m from shore, and didn’t make it back...lost energy. My tube kite saved my life!

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Re: What to do?

Postby Gyre » Thu May 14, 2020 4:20 pm

Thanks for the replies guys... love the suggestions for stroke questions. ;)

Thing with my guy is that (a) he wasn't even answering the question of "Are you OK?!" (b) he was acting really weak so a a tow back to shore didn't seem likely (c) I was worried about getting too close to him while kiting because my kite could have got tangled with his, or he could have panicked and jumped on me like a life preserver (happens sometimes with drowning people -- hence approach them with an object for them to grab onto, not your arm).


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