Answers to Ice and Cold Water Quiz

2. b. Blue or clear. White snow ice is weaker because it contains a lot of air, and grey ice is unsafe because it contains water from melting.

3. a. Boating accounted for 38 percent of cold water immersion deaths. Many of the deaths involved fishing, in the spring and autumn. Over 80 percent were not wearing a flotation device, and alcohol was associated with at least one-third of those aged 15 or older.

4. b. None of the fatalities aged 4 and under and only 10 percent of the 5 to 14 year-olds were accompanied by an adult. Most children were accompanied only by a minor, while most of the adults (63 percent) were alone.

5. b. Temperature transfer from the body to water becomes much more rapid at 15 C. Without flotation equipment, immersion in water at 15 C and lower can lead to death very quickly.

Statistics are for 1991-2000 (Canadian Red Cross, 2006).