Gordon G Giesbrecht

Gordon G Giesbrecht
University of Manitoba | UMN · Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management

Ph.D.

About

198
Publications
58,412
Reads
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4,531
Citations
Additional affiliations
July 1991 - present
University of Manitoba
Position
  • Associate Dean, Professor
Description
  • I built and run the Laboratory for Exercise and Environmental Medicine where we study the physiological responses of humans to work and exercise in environmental stresses.

Publications

Publications (198)
Article
Full-text available
We describe a case of severe accidental hypothermia of a kayaker with preserved consciousness and shivering despite a rectal temperature of 22.9°C following a 50-min immersion in 3°C water with an estimated core temperature cooling rate of 10.6°C/h. Based on survival at sea prediction curves and cooling rates from physiology studies, cold water (eg...
Article
Dr William J. Mills Jr., an Alaskan orthopedic surgeon, helped establish the current protocols for frostbite treatment and changed a dogma used for more than 140 years that was established by Napoleon's surgeon general of the army, Baron Dominique-Jean Larrey. During Napoleon's 1812 siege of Moscow, Larrey noticed the destructive effects of using o...
Article
Griffith Pugh, MD (1909–1994), was a pioneer in altitude physiology. During World War II, he developed training protocols in Lebanon to improve soldier performance at altitude and in the cold. In 1951 he was chosen to join the British Everest team as a scientist. In preparation, he developed strategies for success on a training expedition on Cho Oy...
Article
The Wilderness Medical Society convened an expert panel to develop a set of evidence-based guidelines for the prevention and treatment of frostbite. We present a review of pertinent pathophysiology. We then discuss primary and secondary prevention measures and therapeutic management. Recommendations are made regarding each treatment and its role in...
Article
Full-text available
The Wilderness Medical Society convened a panel to review available evidence supporting practices for acute management of drowning in out-of-hospital and emergency care settings. Literature about definitions and terminology, epidemiology, rescue, resuscitation, acute clinical management, disposition, and drowning prevention was reviewed. The panel...
Article
Full-text available
Every year, people drown after falling through ice on rivers and lakes. In some cases, the body of the victim floats up to the underside of the ice, making detection and recovery difficult using traditional search methods with divers. A robust and contact-less sensing system is required to locate drowning victims that does not put rescue teams at r...
Article
Full-text available
Background Research in paramedicine faces challenges in developing research capacity, including access to high-quality data. A variety of unique factors in the paramedic work environment influence data quality. In other fields of healthcare, data quality assessment (DQA) frameworks provide common methods of quality assessment as well as standards o...
Article
Therapeutic hypothermia (TH) is used to treat patients with cerebral ischemia. Body surface cooling provides a simple noninvasive method to induce TH. We compared three surface cooling systems (Arctic Sun with adhesive ArcticGel pads [AS]); Blanketrol III with two nonadhesive Maxi-Therm Lite blankets [BL]); and Blanketrol III with nonadhesive Kool...
Article
We convened an expert panel to develop evidence-based guidelines for the evaluation, treatment, and prevention of nonfreezing cold injuries (NFCIs; trench foot and immersion foot) and warm water immersion injuries (warm water immersion foot and tropical immersion foot) in prehospital and hospital settings. The panel graded the recommendations based...
Article
John Hayward, PhD (1937-2012), was an early and significant contributor to the understanding of cold water immersion physiology and survival. This article summarizes his work on the 50th anniversary of his first publication in this area. He described areas of high heat loss and emphasized the importance of protecting these areas during cold exposur...
Article
Cold exposure can impair fine and gross motor control and threaten survival. Most motor task decrement is due to peripheral neuromuscular factors. Less is known about cooling on central neural factors. Corticospinal and spinal excitability were determined during cooling of the skin (Tsk) and core (Tco). Eight subjects (four female) were actively co...
Article
Full-text available
We present a case of an un-roped mountaineer who fell into a crevasse during descent from the summit of Denali (Mount McKinley). He was wedged about 20 m deep in the crevasse for a total of 16 h; this included 4.5 h waiting for a rescue team to arrive, and an 11.5 h extrication process. His condition deteriorated and he eventually lost consciousnes...
Article
Full-text available
Introduction The paramedic practice environment presents unique challenges to data documentation and access, as well as linkage to other parts of the healthcare system. Variable or unknown data quality can influence the validity of research in paramedicine. A number of database quality assessment (DQA) frameworks have been developed and used to eva...
Article
Full-text available
We present a case report of a helicopter pilot who fell into a crevasse during a fuel delivery in Antarctica. He was trapped alone in the crevasse for 3 h while waiting for a rescue team to arrive, and a further 1 h during the extrication process. His condition deteriorated during the extrication and he lost consciousness and signs of life minutes...
Article
Full-text available
Boating-related fatalities in the Northwest Territories (NWT) are well above the national average. These fatalities are exacerbated by very cold water, and water and boating safety resources that lack relevance to residents of northern communities. We utilised an iterative, participatory approach to create a plain language, culturally and geographi...
Article
Full-text available
Objective We evaluated the effectiveness of a Cable Safety Barrier (CSB) system in preventing Run-Off-Road (ROR) Vehicle Immersions (VIs) and fatalities in canals along the I-75 freeway ( Alligator Alley ) in Collier County, Florida. The CSB system, which runs along both sides of the 80-km stretch of freeway and was installed between 2003 and 2004....
Article
In 1805, W.D., a 16-y-old boy, became hypothermic after he was left alone on a grounded boat in Leith Harbour, near Edinburgh, Scotland. He was brought to his own house and resuscitated with warm blankets, smelling salts, and massage by Dr. George Kellie. W.D. made an uneventful recovery. We discuss the pathophysiology and treatment of accidental h...
Article
Full-text available
Cold stress impairs fine and gross motor movements. Although peripheral effects of muscle cooling on performance are well understood, less is known about central mechanisms. This study characterized corticospinal and spinal excitability during surface cooling, reducing skin (Tsk) and esophageal (Tes) temperatures. Ten subjects (3 females) wore a li...
Article
PURPOSE: This study was intended to determine the effect of skin cooling on breath-hold duration and predicted emergency air supply duration during immersion.METHODS: While wearing a helicopter transport suit with a dive mask, 12 subjects (29 ± 10 yr, 78 ± 14 kg, 177 ± 7 cm, 2 women) were studied in 8 and 20°C water. Subjects performed a maximum br...
Article
To provide guidance to clinicians, the Wilderness Medical Society convened an expert panel to develop evidence-based guidelines for the out-of-hospital evaluation and treatment of victims of accidental hypothermia. The guidelines present the main diagnostic and therapeutic modalities and provide recommendations for the management of hypothermic pat...
Article
This article describes 3 incidents in which therapeutic or experimental warming of cold individuals caused first- to third-degree burns to the skin. Mechanisms for these injuries are considered. We conclude that active external rewarming of the trunk of a cold patient in the field can be administered safely and burn risk reduced if 1) manufacturer...
Article
Full-text available
High-intensity exercise is impaired by increased esophageal temperature (Tes) above 38 °C and/or decreased muscle temperature. We compared the effects of three 30-min recovery strategies following a first set of three 30-s Wingate tests (set 1), on a similar postrecovery set of Wingate tests (set 2). Recovery conditions were passive recovery in the...
Article
Introduction Victims of severe hypothermia require external rewarming, as self-rewarming through shivering heat production is either minimal or absent. The US Military commonly uses forced-air warming in field hospitals, but these systems require significant power (600–800 W) and are not portable. This study compared the rewarming effectiveness of...
Article
The Wilderness Medical Society convened an expert panel to develop a set of evidence-based guidelines for prevention and treatment of frostbite. We present a review of pertinent pathophysiology. We then discuss primary and secondary prevention measures and therapeutic management. Recommendations are made regarding each treatment and its role in man...
Article
Full-text available
Introduction: Vehicle submersions account for up to 10% of all drownings in high-income countries. Reports indicate that occupants may be conscious and functional, but possibly making incorrect decisions for self-rescue leading to drowning. This study investigated current public knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding vehicle submersion incid...
Article
Introduction We compared the effectiveness of 5 heated hypothermia wrap systems. Methods Physiologic and subjective responses were determined in 5 normothermic subjects (1 female) for 5 heated hypothermia wraps (with vapor barrier and chemical heat sources) during 60 min of exposure to a temperature of −22°C. The 5 systems were 1) user-assembled;...
Article
Objective: To determine the influence of ambulance motion on head-neck (H-N) kinematics and to compare the effectiveness of two spinal precaution (SP) protocols: spinal immobilization (SI) and spinal motion reduction (SMR). Methods: Eighteen healthy volunteers (7 females) underwent a series of standardized ambulance transport tasks, across various...
Article
Introduction: To evaluate the rewarming effectiveness of a similar amount of heat (from a charcoal heater) applied to either the head or torso in a human model for severe hypothermia in which shivering is pharmacologically inhibited in mildly hypothermic subjects. Methods: Six male subjects were cooled on 3 different occasions, each in 8°C water fo...
Conference Paper
Background Drowning rates in Northern Canada are more than 7 times higher than the Canadian national average. Contributing factors include: limited access to swimming pools for learn-to-swim programs; cold water, which limits recreational swimming opportunities and increases risk of accidental immersion; and low lifejacket wear rates. Increased lif...
Conference Paper
Purpose Vehicle submersion has one of the highest fatality rates for any type of single-vehicle incidents, accounting for up to 10% of drownings in industrialized nations. A survey was conducted to determine current public Knowledge, Attitudes and Practice regarding vehicle submersion accidents, escape strategies and protocols. Method Eighty-two r...
Conference Paper
Background Up to 10% of all drownings in western industrialized nations, occur in submerged vehicles (e.g., 350–400/year in North America). Most passenger vehicles are inherently stable in the upright position and will float for about one minute before water rises against the side windows, preventing them from opening. It is especially tragic that...
Conference Paper
Objective To evaluate the rewarming effectiveness of the same amount of heat, using a charcoal heater, donated to the head or torso while using a human model for severe hypothermia where shivering is pharmacologically inhibited in mildly hypothermic subjects. Methods Six male subjects were cooled on three different occasions each, in 8°C water, fo...
Conference Paper
Objective The purpose of the study was to determine, and compare, the effectiveness of five heated hypothermia enclosure systems (HES). Methods This study compared the thermal, physiologic and subjective responses of five subjects (one female) in five HES (with vapor barrier and chemical heat sources) during 60 min of exposure to a −22°C climate....
Article
Introduction A concise, easy-to-use decision aid “Cold Card” that can be carried in the field by wilderness search and rescue teams or medical responders to advise on assessment and care of cold-exposed patients was created. Methods A 2-sided card was designed to summarize the important principles established by the Wilderness Medical Society prac...
Article
This paper presents an expanded dataset for survival times during cold water immersion. In 1946, the first set of human data for cold water survival was derived from the US Navy medical reports during WWII. Although this is the largest and most widely used data source, it has only 23 data points and immersion times are less than 5.5 h for water tem...
Article
Full-text available
The purpose of this research was to identify if three different intensities of resistance exercise would acutely and differentially effect the systemic release of IL-6 and myoglobin in older men (≥65 years). Eleven older men performed isovolume resistance exercise on six different apparatus at three different intensities (144 reps at 60%, 120 reps...
Article
Background: Accidental hypothermia concerns a body core temperature of less than 35°C without a primary defect in the thermoregulatory system. It is a serious threat to prehospital patients and especially injured patients, since it can induce a vicious cycle of the synergistic effects of hypothermia, acidosis and coagulopathy; referred to as the t...
Article
Full-text available
Objective: Every year about 400 people die in submersed vehicles in North America and this number increases to 2,000–5,000 in all industrialized nations. The best way to survive is to quickly exit through the windows. An Automatic Window Opening System (AWOS; patent protected) was designed to sense when a vehicle is in water and to open the electri...
Article
Within the Canadian context, the physical activity levels of children and youth in the after school time period has become a source of public health concern. We argue that this concern is informed by broader public health crises, in particular the ‘global obesity epidemic’ and the closely related ‘global pandemic of physical inactivity', and that t...
Article
In this paper, we argue that standard built environmental accounts of obesity and physical inactivity offer little insight into the multiplicity of power relations that shape the localized mobility practices of rural places. In making this argument, we draw upon literature from with the "new mobilities paradigm" in qualitatively examining the multi...
Article
The purpose of the study was to determine the effectiveness of Fluidotherapy rewarming through the distal extremities for mildly hypothermic, vigorously shivering subjects. Fluidotherapy is a dry heat modality in which cellulose particles are suspended by warm air circulation. Seven subjects (2 female) were cooled on 3 occasions in 8˚C water for 60...
Chapter
Cold injuries can be categorized as hypothermia, frostbite, and nonfreezing cold injuries (NFCI). It is highly unlikely that a doctor will be required to treat any of these conditions within the confines of Olympic Sport competition. Even at the 1994 Olympic Winter Games in Lillehammer where temperatures dropped to -35 C, no incidences of cold inju...
Article
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of wet clothing removal or the addition of a vapor barrier in shivering subjects exposed to a cold environment with only limited insulation available. Volunteer subjects (n = 8) wearing wet clothing were positioned on a spineboard in a climatic chamber (-18.5°C) and subjected to an initial 20 min...
Article
To test the feasibility of sharing treadmill workstations among office workers to reduce time spent at low intensity, and explore changes in health outcomes after a three-month intervention. Twenty-two office workers were asked to walk two hours per shift on a shared treadmill workstation for three months. Physical activity levels (i.e., low, light...
Article
The Wilderness Medical Society convened an expert panel to develop a set of evidence-based guidelines for the prevention and treatment of frostbite. We present a review of pertinent pathophysiology. We then discuss primary and secondary prevention measures and therapeutic management. Recommendations are made regarding each treatment and its role in...
Article
To provide guidance to clinicians, the Wilderness Medical Society (WMS) convened an expert panel to develop evidence-based guidelines for the out-of-hospital evaluation and treatment of victims of accidental hypothermia. The guidelines present the main diagnostic and therapeutic modalities and provide recommendations for the management of hypotherm...
Chapter
A large number of accidents and shipwrecks at sea have occurred over the last 20 years, some with catastrophic consequences. Some of the most well known are summarised in Table 146.1.
Chapter
Full-text available
In the scope of the annual number of car accidents, the number of submerged vehicles is very small. At the same time accidents involving submerged vehicles are in general serious, cause more fatalities among occupants and result in more traumatic consequences for rescue and emergency staff. Unfortunately many deaths of submerged vehicles are the re...
Chapter
The prehospital treatment for hypothermic victims has been a controversial topic. The main contributors to the controversy are the incorrect assumptions that prehospital rewarming is dangerous and the absence of randomised controlled trials to evaluate the efficacy, morbidity and mortality of various field or hospital rewarming methods [1, 2]. This...
Article
Full-text available
Cold injuries are rare but important causes of hospitalization. We aimed to identify the magnitude of cold injury hospitalization, and assess causes, associated factors and treatment routines in a subarctic region. In this retrospective analysis of hospital records from the 4 northernmost counties in Sweden, cases from 2000-2007 were identified fro...
Article
The purpose of the study was to compare the effectiveness of head vs torso warming in rewarming mildly hypothermic, vigorously shivering subjects using a similar source of heat donation. Six subjects (1 female) were cooled on 3 occasions in 8ºC water for 60 minutes or to a core temperature of 35ºC. They were then dried, insulated, and rewarmed by 1...
Article
Winter road workers, who drive heavy vehicles on ice-covered waterways, are at risk for ice failure and subsequent drowning in frigid water. Some workers who are recommended to wear thermoprotective flotation clothing are concerned that buoyancy or bulk may impede underwater exit. Using a simulator, 10 volunteers (2 women) compared everyday winter...
Article
Full-text available
Facial cooling can regulate reflexes of the dive response whereas further body cooling generally induces the cold-shock response. We examined the cardiovascular and ventilatory parameters of these responses during 3-min immersions of the head dorsum, face, and whole head in 17 degrees C water while breathing was maintained. From a horizontal positi...
Article
Of all drownings, 3 to 11% occur in submersed vehicles, yet scientific study of this topic seems limited. A search was made of digital medical, drowning, transportation, and rescue databases regarding vehicle submersion drownings. The major risk factors include driving on ice or roadways near water, flooding of roadways or bridges, slippery roads,...
Article
Winter road workers, who drive heavy vehicles over ice-covered waterways, are at risk for ice failure, vehicle submersion, and subsequent drowning in frigid water. Although some jurisdictions require these workers to wear flotation clothing, there are concerns that, following an underwater exit in fast-moving water, increased clothing buoyancy may...
Article
Full-text available
To determine the incidence as well as contributing factors to fatal hypothermia. Retrospective, registry-based analysis. Cases of fatal hypothermia were identified in the database of the National Board of Forensic Medicine for the 4 northernmost counties of Sweden and for the study period 1992-2008. Police reports, medical records and autopsy proto...
Article
The Wilderness Medical Society convened an expert panel to develop a set of evidence-based guidelines for the prevention and treatment of frostbite. We present a review of pertinent pathophysiology. We then discuss primary and secondary prevention measures and therapeutic management. Recommendations are made regarding each treatment and its role in...
Article
The superimposed twitch technique was used to study the effect of whole-body hypothermia on maximal voluntary activation of elbow flexors. Seven subjects [26.4 ± 4 years old (mean ± SD)] were exposed to 60 min of either immersion in 8°C water (hypothermia) or sitting in 22°C air (control). Voluntary activation was assessed during brief (3 s) maxima...
Article
Full-text available
Of all drownings, 5 to 11% occur in submerged vehicles. Winter road workers are at high risk for vehicle submersion because they drive heavy vehicles over ice. A crane was used for repeated occupied and unoccupied submersions of a 5-ton truck/snow plow (N = 25) and a 1-ton truck/snow plow (N = 23); some data were compared to those from our previous...
Article
Full-text available
This study was conducted to examine whether the greater rate of heat production through intermittent leg exercise would offset an elevated rate of heat loss and thereby decrease the rate of core cooling during immersion in severe conditions when wearing an insulated immersion suit. On two separate days, seven male subjects were immersed in 2 degree...
Article
Full-text available
This study isolated the effects of dorsal, facial, and whole-head immersion in 17C water on peripheral vasoconstriction and the rate of body core cooling. Seven male subjects were studied in thermoneutral air (28C). On 3 separate days, they lay prone or supine on a bed with their heads inserted through the side of an adjustable immersion tank. Foll...
Article
Full-text available
In North America approximately 400 individuals per year die in submersed vehicles, accounting for 5-11% of all drownings. About half of people surveyed would let the vehicle fill with water before attempting exit. We used a crane and two passenger vehicles of the same make, model, and year-one with passenger compartment intact (I) and one with hole...
Article
Fuel selection was measured in five subjects (36.0 +/- 10.5 years old; 87.3 +/- 12.5 kg; mean +/- SD) during a 120-min tethered walking with ski poles (1.12 l O(2) min(-1)) with ingestion of (13)C-glucose (1.5 g kg(-1)), before and after a 20-day 415-km ski trek [physical activity level (PAL) approximately 3], using respiratory calorimetry, urea ex...
Article
Full-text available
To compare four field-appropriate torso-warming modalities that do not require alternating-current (AC) electrical power, using a human model of nonshivering hypothermia. Five subjects, serving as their own controls, were cooled four times in 8 degrees C water for 10-30 minutes. Shivering was inhibited by buspirone (30 mg) taken orally prior to coo...
Article
Cold water temperature is a significant factor in North American drownings. These deaths are usually attributed to hypothermia. Survey questions were administered to 661 attendees of cold-stress seminars-including medical, rescue, law enforcement and lay attendees-to determine general knowledge of the effects of ice water immersion and responses to...
Article
Full-text available
The ability of fingers to rapidly rewarm following cold exposure is a possible indicator of cold injury protection. We categorized the post-cooling hand-rewarming responses of men before and after participation in 15 mo of military training in a cold environment in northern Sweden to determine: 1) if the initial rewarming category was related to th...
Article
Hypercapnia during avalanche burial may increase core temperature cooling rate by decreasing the temperature threshold for shivering or by increasing respiratory heat loss. We studied the effect of hypercapnia on rectal core temperature (T(re)) cooling rate, respiratory heat loss, heat production, and the T(re) shivering threshold during snow buria...
Article
Introduction: Many cold-water scenarios cause the head to be partially or fully immersed (e.g., ship wreck survival, scuba diving, cold-water adventure swim racing, cold-water drowning, etc.). However, the specific effects of head cold exposure are minimally understood. This study isolated the effect of whole-head submersion in cold water on surfac...
Article
Full-text available
Many cold-water scenarios cause the head to be partially or fully immersed (e.g., ship wreck survival, scuba diving, cold-water adventure swim racing, cold-water drowning, etc.). However, the specific effects of head cold exposure are minimally understood. This study isolated the effect of whole-head submersion in cold water on surface heat loss an...
Article
Full-text available
Firefighters experience significant heat stress while working with heavy gear in a hot, humid environment. This study compared the cooling effectiveness of immersing the forearms and hands in 10 and 20 degrees C water. Six men (33 +/- 10 yr; 180 +/- 4 cm; 78 +/- 9 kg; 19 +/- 5% body fat) wore firefighter 'turn-out gear' (heavy clothing and breathin...
Article
Introduction: Firefighters experience significant heat stress while working with heavy gear in a hot, humid environment. This study compared the cooling effectiveness of immersing the forearms and hands in 10 and 20 degrees C water. Methods: Six men (33 :+/- 10 yr; 180 +/- 4 cm; 78 +/- 9 kg; 19 +/- 5% body fat) wore firefighter 'turn-out gear' (hea...
Article
Full-text available
It is the position of the American College of Sports Medicine that exercise can be performed safely in most cold-weather environments without incurring cold-weather injuries. The key to prevention is use of a comprehensive risk management strategy that: a) identifies/assesses the cold hazard; b) identifies/assesses contributing factors for cold-wea...
Article
Full-text available
This study isolated the effect of whole head submersion in cold water, on surface heat loss and body core cooling, when the confounding effect of shivering heat production was pharmacologically eliminated. Eight healthy male subjects were studied in 17 degrees C water under four conditions: the body was either insulated or uninsulated, with the hea...
Article
A case description is presented of a 9-member rowing team whose scull swamped on a small lake in Victoria, Canada, because of a sudden winter storm, which immersed them in 4 degrees C water for 50 minutes until a small rescue boat found them in darkness. Another 13 minutes of cold exposure in 6.7 degrees C air occurred during boat transport to wait...
Article
Full-text available
To compare 5 active torso-warming modalities in a human model of severe hypothermia with shivering heat production inhibited by intravenous meperidine. Six subjects were cooled on 6 different occasions each, in 8 degrees C water, for 30 minutes or to a core temperature of 35 degrees C. Spontaneous warming was the first torso-warming modality to be...