"Ice that is thin and crispy
is way
too risky."
Wise words
from a nursery rhyme.
And as you plunge
through the ice
into frigid water,
these words are
cold comfort
and may come to haunt you.
When walking across a
frozen lake, never
judge ice
by looks alone.
Although the motto,
"ice that is thick and blue
is tried and true"
is a good rule to go by,
it's not worth risking your life
for a stroll across these chilled waters.
People go on the ice
for different reasons.
They fish,
they skate,
or they take a shortcut
to where they're going.
And sometimes they fall in
by accident.
If they ski off course
or a car skids off a road.
Oh no.
There are things you can do
that will help you to survive.
The 1-10-1 rule is a quick way
to remember the three initial phases
of being immersed in cold water.
Minute one, known
as "cold shock,"
is a big jolt to your body as it
feels the icy water.
This is when
hyperventilation begins,
which is breathing between
600 to
1,000% greater than regular breathing.
After 10 minutes in the water,
cold incapacitation occurs.
You'll lose sensations and movement
in your fingers, arms, and legs.
It can take up to one hour
for hypothermia to set
and you become unconscious.
If at all possible,
try to keep your head above water
to delay the onset of hypothermia.
Hypothermia has three stages.
When it's mild,
your body temperature is about
35 °C (95 °F) or less,
and you'll be shivering,
developing blue skin
and confusion.
Moderate hypothermia
sets in when your
body temperature drops to
32 °C (89.6 °F),
and the onset of sleepiness
and hallucination can make you pass out.
Severe hypothermia sets in
when your body temperature drops
down to 28 °C (82.4 °F).
You are now at risk of
cardiac arrest.
Getting out of the water as
fast as possible is imperative
to avoid hypothermia.
Try to find the
hole you fell into,
and pull yourself out.
If you can't,
let's hope that someone else will help
pull you out.
That happened to Anna Bågenholm.
This 29-year-old radiologist
from Sweden,
went skiing near Narvik, Norway,
lost control and fell through ice.
She was dragged
under the water with
only her legs and skis sticking out.
Luckily, she was found by two friends
who tried unsuccessfully to
pull her out and
then called for help.
Because they were
in a remote area,
a rescue team could not
get there quickly
and Anna and her friends had to wait.
She had been trapped
in the ice water for 80 minutes.
Even though Anna found a
pocket of air so she could breathe,
she went into cardiac arrest
and lost consciousness after 40 minutes.
Despite having been in the
deadly, frigid water for 80 minutes,
Anna was able to make
an almost complete recovery
after an extensive medical treatment.
If you are under the water,
look for lighter areas above.
This would usually be the
place you entered from,
as other places
could be covered in snow
and look darker.
These picks could save your life.
Push both picks into the ice,
and pull yourself up horizontally
while kicking your feet
in a swimming motion.
This way, you won't need as much
upper body strength to get yourself
out of the water.
While you're struggling not to
turn into a human ice cube,
you look up into the sky,
and notice the
gathering clouds and flashes of light.
Could this be the
beginning of a lightning storm?
Don't panic,
we've got you covered.
To learn how to survive a lightning strike,
check out our video,
right here on How to Survive.