This is the time of year that we often get the call that someone disappeared in the river.  Often times trying to save someone who fell in.  Our local rivers are still too cold to swim in without proper cold water protection.  If you are going to hang out next to the water, please wear a personal floatation device, if you fall in it could save your life.  Remember several areas of our local rivers have areas where the hydraulics can trap you in the water, and there is often extra debris from winter storms that can snag you. Know before you Go!

National Center for Cold Water Safety states: Cold water can kill you in less than a minute. It's actually so dangerous that it kills a lot of people within seconds. Thousands of people have drowned after falling into cold water and a lot of them died before they even had a chance to reach the surface.

That's a scientific and medical fact that most people have trouble understanding - because they have no personal experience actually being in cold water. When they hear or think about 50F (10C) water, it doesn't sound particularly cold - or dangerous - because they're mentally comparing it to 50F (10C) air. It's a big mistake that gets a lot of people killed each year.

You should treat any water temperature below 70F with caution.