The poles. com has got a three part series written by a
Dr. Popsicle (aka Gordon
Giesbrecht) that addresses how to save yourself when falling into icy water. As most people know, falling into
extremely cold water can be a truly deadly experience. Water, being so much more dense than air, cools your body
rapidly, and can lead to a degradation in your muscle activity. But
the article dispels one of the common myths about cold water
survival, namely that you only have a few minutes to live. Not true, says Dr. Popsicle. Of course, “you should
get out of the water as soon as you can”, but he says you have much more time than you think. In fact, in a stunt on
the David Letterman show a while back, Doc Pop hung out in ice-laden water for 18 minutes. The
second article in the series describes how you should keep your
cool while part three actually discusses self-rescue
techniques.