“Professor Popsicle” (Dr. Giesbrecht) takes eight volunteers and dunks them in 45 degree F water to show you what really happens in sudden cold water immersion and what happens as a person gets hypothermia. Graphic video shows why you should wear your lifejacket.

Professor Popsicle has developed the 1-10-1 guide to help understand what happens to people in cold water:
Cold Shock (1 minute to get your breathing under control).
Cold Incapacitation (10 minutes to self rescue yourself before your hands, arms, legs stop working).
Hypothermia (About 1 hour before you become unconscious) IMPORTANT NOTE – If you are not wearing a lifejacket only the first 10 minutes are relevant. Treatment of hypothermia is also covered. There are several must see videos on their site for everyone that is around cold water.

Cold Water Boot Camp Web Site

Instructors guide and quick reference I assembled from the Cold Water Boot Camp site materials (pdf 9 pages)