I’ve been speaking and writing about cold-water safety and survival to anyone who would listen for more than 10 years now. The goal has been to destroy the myths about hypothermia, because those myths are dangerous. Telling the truth about dangerous things changes the way we prepare for and react to them if they happen to us.
No one can get hypothermia in five minutes. If you fall into icy cold water — though it’s obviously a very dangerous thing — you can do things to protect yourself and survive an accidental dunk into cold water.
Sometimes saying it isn’t enough. So, when I am asked to teach on this subject, I like to demonstrate. Last week I was teaching a course on cold-water safety and survival. Near then end of class, I showed the students the 1-10-1 principle by jumping into 41-degree Delaware River water. I was wearing only street clothing and a lifejacket. This week I’d like to share a short video (shot by one of the students), so you can see the truth about cold water and help dispel the myth. Cold water is dangerous, but the video above shows how to survive if you accidentally fall into it.
