survival rates for people who jump / fall into the thames?
March 17, 2022 6:57 PM
stopped someone jumping off london bridge and now wondering what might’ve happened if i hadn’t. google gives press reports but no collated data.
bonus question: what are some small / underfunded uk suicide prevention charities (i.e. not the samaritans)?
bonus question: what are some small / underfunded uk suicide prevention charities (i.e. not the samaritans)?
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/daredevil-carnage-teen-jumps-londons-tower-bridge-says-sorry-n398306
this dude survived, probably it's dangerous but not 98% fatal like the golden gate bridge
posted by Sebmojo at 7:23 PM on March 17, 2022
this dude survived, probably it's dangerous but not 98% fatal like the golden gate bridge
posted by Sebmojo at 7:23 PM on March 17, 2022
Tiny Changes is focused on mental health and suicide prevention in Scotland. (Disclosure: I’ve supported them since their founding.)
Thank you for the impact you had on this person and the ripple effect of what you’ve spared their family from experiencing.
posted by icaicaer at 7:27 PM on March 17, 2022
Thank you for the impact you had on this person and the ripple effect of what you’ve spared their family from experiencing.
posted by icaicaer at 7:27 PM on March 17, 2022
Yes, very well done indeed!
Anecdotally the Thames is pretty dangerous, in the tidal section at least, with lots of eddies and undertows as the tide moves up and down. Apparently it's about 20m deep at London Bridge, but can be forded at low tide as far downstream as Hammersmith (1 m deep). I suppose it depends a lot on where y ou actually jump/fall in, and what the tide is doing at the time, but it would be the river itself that's more dangerous, rather than the disance you fall into it.
posted by Fuchsoid at 8:40 PM on March 17, 2022
Anecdotally the Thames is pretty dangerous, in the tidal section at least, with lots of eddies and undertows as the tide moves up and down. Apparently it's about 20m deep at London Bridge, but can be forded at low tide as far downstream as Hammersmith (1 m deep). I suppose it depends a lot on where y ou actually jump/fall in, and what the tide is doing at the time, but it would be the river itself that's more dangerous, rather than the disance you fall into it.
posted by Fuchsoid at 8:40 PM on March 17, 2022
Good one! If this happened recently, the current water temperature of 7C in the Thames might be a deciding factor. This article has survival times for given temperatures but I believe they're for people wearing some kind of life jacket. The article says the shock and disorientation caused by falling into cold water (without height as a factor) is enough that most cold water drownings occur very quickly and very close to shore or rescue. Sounds like falling into cold water from a bridge would put someone in a pretty dire situation.
posted by brachiopod at 9:30 PM on March 17, 2022
posted by brachiopod at 9:30 PM on March 17, 2022
The Listening Place is a small suicide prevention charity in London, which focusses on face-to-face support - a friend of mine has volunteered there for a few years and he says they do good work.
posted by cpatterson at 12:05 AM on March 18, 2022
posted by cpatterson at 12:05 AM on March 18, 2022
Respeck! and welcome to St Adjutor's save-one-from-drowning club SASOC. Survival rate is about 2/3rds? "Those affected do not always follow through on their threats, but the statistics remain alarming. Of the 688 cases reported in 2018, 105 people entered the water and 30 people died". Source Port of London Authority.
posted by BobTheScientist at 12:34 AM on March 18, 2022
posted by BobTheScientist at 12:34 AM on March 18, 2022
The survival rates from the Port of London Authority include all people who entered the Thames and triggered emergency services, including those who jumped or fell in from footpaths. The survival rate from jumping off London Bridge might be a lot lower.
posted by Tim Bucktooth at 6:55 AM on March 18, 2022
posted by Tim Bucktooth at 6:55 AM on March 18, 2022
You might be interested in a Channel 4 doc called The Stranger on the Bridge about a man's search to find the person who talked him out of jumping from Waterloo Bridge. I've not seen it myself but its on my list.
posted by Kiwi at 11:58 AM on March 18, 2022
posted by Kiwi at 11:58 AM on March 18, 2022
Truly, thank you for being a wonderful human. If, as Muhammed Ali said, service to others is the rent we pay for our room here on earth, you're paid up for a while.
posted by Special Agent Dale Cooper at 7:20 PM on March 18, 2022
posted by Special Agent Dale Cooper at 7:20 PM on March 18, 2022
If I am crunching the numbers correctly there were 167 suicide attempts on London bridges from 3/2019 through 4/2020. No more than 10 of them succeeded.
They don’t break things down to each of the five bridges, but in general it sounds like falling into the Thames is relatively survivable.
source
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 9:45 PM on March 18, 2022
They don’t break things down to each of the five bridges, but in general it sounds like falling into the Thames is relatively survivable.
source
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 9:45 PM on March 18, 2022
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by wenestvedt at 7:02 PM on March 17, 2022