May 10, 2006 - The Hypothermia Challenge, Tim vs. Ruth Options

[Samantha_Dassler_Barlow]

Date: May 10, 2006

Today we had a bit of excitement at precisely 1500 (3:00 pm) on the mess deck (where we eat). In one corner, we had Ruth, 5th grader at St. John Newman Catholic School. In the other corner we had BMCS Tim Sullivan, Healy crewmember. Does that sound like a fair match, child against adult?

This was a hypothermia challenge. It was meant to show the effects of cold water on your ability to perform simple tasks. People in the Coast Guard train for this sort of thing since they are often on or near water for their jobs.

So what is hypothermia? An A+ goes to the person that can answer that question the fastest on the “Ask Sam…” board. Maybe you will be able to tell what hypothermia is after I describe the challenge.

For this challenge, Ruth and Tim each stuck one hand in a bucket of ice water that was about the same temperature as Bering Sea water for 3 minutes. Then they raced to see who could pick up the most pennies from the bottom of the bucket, using the hand that had just been soaked in the ice-cold water.

And the winner of the Hypothermia Challenge is…Ruth Cooper, 5th grader from St. John Newman Catholic School. Ruth scooped out the most pennies from the bucket after soaking her hand in ice-cold water for 3 minutes!