An enema may save you - No! really.

[rsn48]

Okay I was watching Survivor Man in the episode where he is a drift in a life raft and the issue of palatable water came up, and what to do if it isn't quite palatable and might make you sick, but the water itself could save you.

Apparently if you have water that is marginal at best and could make you ill, thus creating further dehydration, the best thing to do with the water is to give it to yourself via an enema. By using an enema, the water does not challenge your stomach and is absorbed by your intestines.

Now I throw this out there as kind of the last ditch survival thing to do, but who knows who this piece of trivia might save. People have been using the enema method for some years now and it works - at least according to Survivor Man's research.

[Bill Mc]

Great, Now I need an enema bag in my emergency ditch bag. What will the other occupants of my raft think?? Hell, if the boat goes down, someone please shoot me. If necessary, you can eat me too..

Fair winds,

Bill

[KeelHaulin]

UH... I still don't think that will work if you use salt water. Your intestines will dehydrate instead of absorb the higher salinity water. I could see it working if the collected water was from rain or filtered but it should be bug-free if it is reverse-osmosis or via a rain collector.

[SimonV]

Sorry but it's one way traffic, looks like I'm doomed.

[BlueWaterMD]

Definitely not for me. And really, I am not so sure about this enema thing... is it supposed to be for salt water or contaminated water. If the water is contaminated you still risk getting sick. Salt water I don't really know what would happen, but can't imagine it would be good for you. I think I would build a solar-still instead!

I too watch Survivorman, as well as Man Vs Wild. Much of there science is questionable at best, and a lot of it is just downright stipid and dangerous. My favorite is when the guy on Man Vs Wild caught a trout and daid that you should eat it whole (BONES and all), because the bones are a good source of calcium. Your body has a huge store of calcium and not getting calcium for a few days/weeks probably isn't going to hurt you at all. Now swallowing fish bones that can perforate your GI tract is VERY likely to kill you!

Sorry if that was a little off topic, but while these guys do have survival experience, a lot of what they do is wrong and purely for entertainment purposes.

[camaraderie]

Oh Gawd...now Giu is going to be practicing "man dehydrated" drills instead of man overboard drills!! (g)

[Giulietta]

Originally Posted by camaraderie

Oh Gawd...now Giu is going to be practicing "man dehydrated" drills instead of man overboard drills!! (g)

Ahhh yes yes yes....Mr. Cam...you're next...pants down...Doc Giu will be here in a minute....

Do you need vaseline or you'll take it like a man??

Actually...that just gave me an idea.....

I can make the instruction manual for that....

[Wannafish]

Right Gui - nothing like a good set of work instructions!

[Giulietta]

OK...here are the instructions for the "sea enema"...

persuation is a must..

[erps]

Apparently if you have water that is marginal at best and could make you ill, thus creating further dehydration, the best thing to do with the water is to give it to yourself via an enema. By using an enema, the water does not challenge your stomach and is absorbed by your intestines.

Actually I read about this survival technique around twenty years ago in a book documenting a family's experience staying alive in a life raft for a several days. At one point, there was a mix of fresh rain water and the blood of a sea turtle that they had killed, sloshing around in the bottom of the raft. The mother, a registered nurse, suggested that they consume the water via an enema. They did and lived to tell about it. I think the family was from England and I saw the mother interviewed later on the PBS station but I don't remember the particular show.

It would be interesting to hear a more expert opinion on it.