When working in the bush, falling into frigid water or going through the ice into even colder water is an occupational hazard. After you have done it a few times, you usually come to the conclusion that it isn't near as much fun as it is cracked up to be. In fact, it can be downright unpleasant, not to mention life-threatening.

Until you have experienced the sudden shock of hitting really cold water it is hard to imagine what an assault it is on you mentally and physically. It can literally stop your heart. If you survive that, cold shock can cause you to gasp for air and you risk sucking in water and drowning. You also hyperventilate, so you have to control your breathing. The shock can turn your muscles to jelly and the clothes you are wearing can feel like lead weights. Also, you may panic and waste all of your energy flailing around.

You are much more likely to survive if you are in shallow water and can touch bottom. If you are in deep water you are lucky if you can get out unassisted. The trouble is once a hole has been broken in the ice, the ice around that hole will support less weight. Rescuers can't get too close to you or they will go through themselves. So breaking through the ice puts those trying to save you at risk, too.

Ice and water safety should be compulsory courses for all people who live in the North. During freeze-up, the ice near shore is usually thickest and it is thinnest out in the middle, or in places where currents occur. I have been on lakes with close to a metre of ice over most of the lake and yet there can be a patch of open water near a reef where there is a natural up-well. So, just because the ice in one spot is safe, that doesn't mean it is safe everywhere and each lake can vary considerably.

Now, you can talk about ice safety for hours to some people and they just don't get it, particularly if they are at the age where they think they are invincible and immortal. I am a firm believer that experience is often the best teacher. So every freeze up, those who think it is fun to walk on thin ice should be given the opportunity or mandate to jump into a hole in the ice, to see if they can handle it as well as they imagine they can.

We have a lot of lakes in the North and people often drive on the ice, so everyone should be taught what to do if their vehicle ends up in a lake or goes through the ice. Recently three college students in North Dakota drove into a pond at night and they all drowned. According to statistics, ten per cent of the drowning deaths in North America occur when vehicles end up in water, so it happens a lot.

The TV program Myth Busters has a good segment on how to get out of a submerged car. Dr. Gordon Giesbrecht of the University of Manitoba has studied this problem extensively. His volunteers knew what was coming, so they were mentally prepared, whereas in the real world, most people are going to be surprised when it happens.

Most vehicles will float for between 30 to 120 seconds. You have a 50 per cent chance of survival if you undo your seat belt, roll down the window and try to get out before the vehicle sinks. If you let the car fill with water and try to get out, you have a 30 per cent chance of surviving and if you wait for the vehicle to reach the bottom before you try to escape you have a 10 per cent chance of surviving. Luckily, the good doctor built in some safety features or else he wouldn't have had any students left by the end of the experiments.

The doctor also suggests that everyone buy an inexpensive Res-Q-Me tool and hang it from their rear view mirror. This tool can cut seatbelts and break car windows. It can be used in other emergencies like rollovers, accidents where doors are jammed and car fires, even if you don't plan to drive into the lake.

The rules are: be prepared, don't panic and act quickly - which is a whole lot easier said than done.

- Walt Humphries is a well-known Yellowknife artist and prospector