How to Survive in Icy Cold Water

We all hope that we will never find ourselves in this situation--but in light of the commercial jet landing in the icy cold waters of New York's Hudson River and similar accidents--it is better to be prepared and to learn the skills necessary to increase our chances of surviving such treacherous conditions.

This article will offer some suggestions on how to survive in icy cold water.

Things You'll Need

• Floating device
• Swimming skills

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Instructions

• 1

  Once in the icy water the key to survival is to try and delay the body from going into hypothermia. Find a floating device or object if one is nearby and try to keep as much of your body as possible out of the icy water.

• 2

  If you are in the water, then position yourself in order to prevent as little heat as possible from escaping your body. Keep your knees close to your chest and cross your arms in front of you. Keep as calm as possible and try not to waste your energy by thrashing around and allowing the body heat to escape into the icy water. Try to keep your head and face out of the water.

• 3

  Crowd or huddle together with other people in the water to slow down your body heat from escaping.

• 4

  Try to remain calm and do not attempt to swim unless you see help arriving or there is a flotation device nearby that you can climb into. Swimming and other activities will dissipate the body's heat energy quicker than staying calm and still.