Lake Ice Is Still Dangerously Thin, Authorities Warn
(CBS) – Sure, it's bone-chillingly cold. That doesn't mean the ice you want to skate or fish upon is solid enough.
CBS 2's Mike Parker reports.
"It's way too early for anybody to talk about going out on the ice at this point. The ice hasn't had a chance to form yet," Hammond, Ind. Assistant Fire Chief Scott Rakos says.
In January, a 50-year-old man fell through thin ice while trying to skate on Wolf Lake in Hammond.
By the time firefighters got to him, he'd been underwater for 25 minutes. The rescue effort was too late.
"It was very late at night. He was by himself. The lesson is don't do it," Rakos says.
Firefighter Ed Lomeli shows some of the gear that he and his comrade use, including a fire rescue sled.
An emergency room doctor at Loyola University Medical Center says the danger for both victim and rescuer is hypothermia.
"Hypothermia is a life-threatening issue, and it is the decrease in temperature of your core body temperature to the point where your vital systems fail to function normally," Dr. Christina Hantsch says.
