Wisconsin Man Gets Drunk and Lost Out on Frozen Lake Winnebago
OutdoorHub Reporters 01.08.18
A man in Wisconsin had to be rescued after having a few too many drinks and getting lost on a frozen lake.
WTOL reports how a night out at the bars in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, lead one man to walk out onto the frozen waters of Lake Winnebago, and get completely turned around. Officials say the 42-year-old man called 911 around 2:30 a.m. Sunday morning after he realized he was lost out in the middle of the lake.
“They were able to ping his cell phone and get a general location where he was,” Capt. Joe Maramonte with the Fond du Lac Fire Department stated.
Maramonte said the man was found unresponsive (and underdressed) about a quarter-mile from shore. When authorities finally found the man, air temps were reading about 12 degrees (Fahrenheit), but with winds blowing at 15 mph, it felt much colder.
“The lake is not the place to be walking around, as anywhere, if it’s cold outside and you’ve had a few to drink,” Maramonte said.
Paramedic Lt. Rick Faris says alcohol mixed with the frigid temperatures can be extremely dangerous.
“Alcohol is a vasodilator,” Faris said. “It’ll dilate the capillary beds in your skin. So, blood will flow there more readily, and it’ll give you a false sense of being warm, especially with heavy drinking. That’ll just increase the amount of heat lost in the cold.”
