Gordon Giesbrecht

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Giesbrecht is a Canadian academic and public educator. Giesbrecht earned a PhD in physiology from the University of Manitoba in 1990 and has been a professor of thermophysiology in the Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management since 1991. He is best known for his work on cold physiology and the co-creation of Cold Water Boot Camp and Beyond Cold Water Boot Camp; two public/professional educational programs. He has also spearheaded a research and education program dedicated to reduce the incidence of vehicle submersion drownings, which account for up to 10% of all drownings.^[3]

Through publications, media appearances and educational programs, Giesbrecht has championed the fact that most cold-water immersion deaths are not caused by hypothermia (which takes more than an hour for most adults), but rather occur earlier due to either the cold shock response^[4] (gasping and hyperventilation), or cold incapacitation^[5] (due to cooling of muscle and nerve fibres). In order to clarify and publicize the four phases of cold water immersion

1. Cold shock response
2. Cold incapacitation
3. Hypothermia
4. Circum-rescue collapse^[6]

Giesbrecht coined the 1-10-1 Principle which was introduced on February 19, 2004 on Late Night With David Letterman. "If you fall in ice water, do not panic and remember you have 1 MINUTE to get control of your breathing, 10 MINUTES of meaningful movement, and 1 HOUR before you become unconscious due to hypothermia."

After testifying as an expert witness in an inquest regarding the death of the driver of a snowplow that broke through the ice on a winter road, Giesbrecht realized that up to 10% of all drownings occurred in vehicles and that there was virtually no organized research into vehicle submersion, especially with people in the test vehicles. Operation ALIVE (Automobile submersion: Lessons In Vehicle Escape) has resulted in a series of scientific publications^[3] and the following public advice for occupants of a sinking car: "Don't panic, do not touch your cell phone and remember 4 words, 'SEATBELTS off; WINDOWS open; CHILDREN released from their constraints; and OUT'". This work has also resulted in rewriting of the "Sinking Vehicle Protocol", and creation of a new "Vehicle Stranded in Floodwater Protocol" used by the National Academies of Emergency Dispatch for 9-1-1 emergency dispatch operators throughout the world.

Giesbrecht has appeared in a number of interviews and documentaries relating to his work in environmental medicine, including Discovery Channel Canada,^[7][8][9] twice on the Rick Mercer Report,^[10][11] the National Geographic Channel,^[12] Canadian and US network news,^[13] and The Nature of Things.^[14]

Giesbrecht is the author/coauthor of over 90 publications in the scientific literature, has coauthored one book, Hypothermia, Frostbite and Other Cold Injuries, and written a dozen book chapters.

• 2015 Elected as a Fellow of the Aerospace Medical Association
• 2012 Blair Erb World Congress Award for worldwide impact on wilderness medicine, from the Wilderness Medical Society.
• 2012 The Ellingson Award for Scientific Writing Achievement within the Associate Fellows Group of the Aerospace Medical Association.
• 2011 Education and Training Award of the National Search and Rescue Program Awards of Excellence (Canada)
• 2010 Elected as an Associate Fellow of the Aerospace Medical Association
• 2008 Canadian Safe Boating Association, Special Recognition Award
• 2005 Elected to the Explorer's Club