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PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS - Recuers huddle around a hypothermic victim friday afternoon as part of a hypothermia rescue program offered to RCMP and WPS members, see release.The "victim" was well insulated and warm inside a dry suit for the demonstration. - November 3, 2017 LOCAL STDUP - water rescue training PROFESSOR POPSICLE TEACHING RCMP, WPS MEMBERS “BEYOND COLD WATER BOOT CAMP” Cold water rescue demonstrations Friday afternoon in the Red River University of Manitoba Faculty of Kinesiology Professor Gordon Giesbrecht is known better by his nickname “Professor Popsicle”, thanks to his renowned research and teaching on the effects of cold water on the body. This fall, he published his 100th paper in a peer reviewed journal on the topic. Dr Giesbrecht has offered a “Beyond Cold Water Boot Camp” across Canada to members of the lifesaving community for the past number of years, and for the first time this week, he’s offering it in Winnipeg. 30 enrollees from the Winnipeg Police Service, RCMP, Red Cross and the Lifesaving Society attended day one of the course yesterday, and will continue their training today (Friday, November 3, 2017). The two-day course includes classroom work in the morning and rescue training in the Red River in the afternoon, with RCMP boats and victims in the water being rescued and treated on shore. “We’re training emergency responders including law enforcement personnel, search and rescue members, and other educators about the dangers of cold water immersion and how to rescue and treat people who are in cold water,” said Giesbrecht. “We’re demonstrating different types of emergency gear, and we’ve got three RCMP boats helping us simulate real rescue situations. “One of the things we’re working on is exploding some of the myths around what really are dangers of cold water immersion and how to safely extract someone from the cold. And despite some popular opinion, we’re showing that