Paul Bickford
Northern News Services
Published Monday, December 17, 2007
YELLOWKNIFE - Winters in the NWT can kill. It's a lesson Tim Gauthier, like many others, discovered the hard way. Fortunately, however, Gauthier lived to learn from his mistake.
In January of 1994 the Fort Smith resident had one of those close calls when he went off Highway 5 while travelling to Hay River.
Gauthier recalled there was a high wind and blowing snow that day, and the truck he was driving hit a drift and began to fishtail. The truck rolled over twice before settling on the driver's side.
It was a Sunday morning, on a bitter -40 C day. Equipped with only a thin sleeping bag and a hatchet to chop firewood, Gauthier started a fire, but had to struggle through ditches filled with four feet of snow to reach the woods. When he finally got wood chopped, it was green and burned poorly.
Hours passed, and Gauthier had to keep moving to prevent from freezing.
"I wasn't dressed for the weather, and I wasn't prepared for an emergency," he said. "I have learned since then, though, but it was a hard lesson to learn that way. I was on the road in killing temperatures for over four hours."
These days when on the road in winter, Gauthier travels with candles, emergency blankets, matches, a sleeping bag rated for -40 C, a small supply of dry kindling to start a fire and sometimes borrows a satellite phone from friends.
"Going off the road in the NWT is no joke," he said. "In the summer, you have a nightmare of bugs and in winter you have temperatures that can quickly lead to death. An hour of preparation can save lives."
It seems obvious, but some people need constant reminding that an NWT winter can be extremely dangerous.
"Winter is basically something we have to prepare for and understand," said Dr. Andre Corriveau, the NWT's chief medical health officer.
While noting most people are prepared for winter and have a good knowledge of the dangers of the season, Corriveau said others are not as cautious as they should be.
The territory's top doctor said there are two things that make the winter dangerous - ice and cold.
"Ice is very treacherous," he said.
Slips and falls on steps and sidewalks, vehicle accidents on the road, and people and vehicles falling through ice on rivers and lakes, are the primary hazards said Corriveau.
"We do have drownings in water because of falling through ice," he said.
Corriveau noted people falling through ice are often wearing heavy clothes, making it difficult for them to get out quickly. They may also find it difficult to find the hole in the ice they fell through if they are dragged a little by the current in a river.
As for the cold, he said it can cause frostbite and hypothermia.
Heat loss in a body can be accelerated by drinking alcohol, even though a person might feel warmer because alcohol dilates blood vessels on the skin, he explained. "Actually, that heat is going out of the body much quicker."
Winter can also be hazardous for people who are not in good physical shape, he added.
For instance, shovelling snow can be dangerous, he said. "That's a time people can get heart attacks or by walking through a lot of snow, if they are labouring."
And, Corriveau said winter is a time when more people are in danger from the flu and colds.
"More people are indoors with other people," he said, explaining that allows the flu and colds to spread more easily.
In Canada each year, about 4,000 people die from the flu, he said.
"It may not be the immediate cause of death," he said, explaining the flu could put a strain on the heart, complicate respiratory diseases or lead to pneumonia.
Jack Kruger, the search and rescue co-ordinator with RCMP's G Division, said some people don't respect the dangers of winter.
Kruger said he recently saw people snowmobiling under the West Channel Bridge in Hay River, even though there was a small stretch of open water there. And he sometimes sees people driving to Alberta wearing only running shoes. "Human nature is human nature," he said.
Kruger also noted young people tearing around on snowmobiles can be miles into the bush before they realize it and could die if they break down in cold weather.
"They're absolutely not prepared for it," he said.
Doug Swallow, president of the safety equipment supply firm MSS Ltd. in Hay River, said a lot of people venture out on the highway without the proper gear, since they are not expecting to be stranded.
Swallow said, no matter how reliable the vehicle, it could go off icy roads and a person may be alone for hours. His advice is to carry a survival kit containing jumper cables, candles, extra clothing, a blanket, a tarp and food.
People should take a satellite phone, he said. "It does decrease the time it takes to get rescued, if you do get stranded."
Swallow said snowmobilers should also prepare for emergencies, with things like enough fuel, extra spark plugs, extra clothing and shovels.
Plus, he advised snowmobilers to use the buddy system and travel with someone else on another machine.
Swallow's company sells clothing and equipment to outside workers, and he said some may not be prepared in the fall, but that quickly changes when the weather turns colder. "There'll be a scramble for proper equipment."
Unfortunately, it sometimes takes a close escape from freezing to death to drive home the dangers of winter.
