Be Ice Smart This Winter
With the arrival of winter, the public is reminded to ensure the ice is thick enough to safely walk, drive or snowmobile on before venturing on to it.
Ice thickness can be deceptive and unpredictable at times. It does not freeze at a uniform thickness and its strength can vary considerably from one area to another.
To be sure, check the ice thickness before you travel on it. As a guideline, you need at least 10 cm (four inches) of ice to walk on, 20 cm (eight inches) to drive a snowmobile or ATV on, 30 cm (12 inches) to drive a car or light truck on, and more than 30 cm (12 inches) to support a heavy truck.
Guidelines are provided to help individuals decide whether to venture onto the ice. Thickness is just one consideration when evaluating ice safety. Clear, hard ice is the only ice recommended for travel.
Ice should be re-evaluated on every date visited, even if it was safe on a previous date.
If you do fall into ice cold water, you have:
-1 minute to get your breathing under control.
-the next 10 minutes you will experience cold incapacitation.
-after cold incapacitation, hypothermia will set in but it will take 1 hour to become unconscious.
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