On Wed, 22 Feb 2006 14:14:14 +0000, Rosalie B. wrote:

The occupational physician that I
was working with said that there was a 50-50-50 rule. In water
of 50 degrees F, 50% of people will survive for 50 minutes. From that
I infer that some people have more resistance to cold water than
others.

absolutely, on a hot midsummer day I went into a cold -sub 60- bay in the
North Channel with a thin wet suit and skin diving gear on to check the
underside of the boat and was rendered dangerously hypothermic in less
than 20 minutes. I knew I was in trouble when I could no longer tell
which way was up. I had extreme difficulty getting myself up the ladder
under my own power -my wife had to get a sling under my backside to
assist- and it took me over an hour and a half with the wet suit on
sitting in the sun in the cockpit to get my internal temperature
stabilized. I'm over 50, marathon fit and lack shall we say much body
insulation.