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Frozen lake in a snowy forest, life ring on the shore, two people standing safely on the bank

Someone has fallen through the ice

The ice breaks and freezing water closes over you. The first minutes are decisive – for you and for helpers on the bank.

First

  1. If you are in the water yourself: wait out the cold shock (roughly the first minute), calm your breathing, do not thrash. Keep your head above water.
  2. Then turn towards the direction you came from – the ice held you there. Arms flat on the ice, kick your legs horizontally and push yourself up.
  3. Do not stand up on the ice: roll away or crawl, following your own track back to shore.
  4. If you see someone break through: call 112 at once and do not run onto the ice. From the bank, reach or throw a branch, rope, ladder or scarf.

Call emergency services if

  • Always when someone has broken through and does not get out by themselves at once
  • The person was under water or inhaled water – even if they seem fine afterwards
  • Unconsciousness or no normal breathing
  • Signs of hypothermia: violent shivering, confusion, drowsiness
  • Someone is missing

Emergency numbers for Austria · Change region

What is happening

In winter, frozen lakes, ponds and rivers tempt people to walk, skate or ice-fish. How much the ice can bear is hard to judge from above: near inflows, reeds, jetties, under snow and over currents the ice is often much thinner. Rescue organisations such as the German DLRG recommend going onto standing water only with about 15 cm of clear ice, flowing water only with about 20 cm – and only when officially opened.

Anyone who breaks through experiences cold shock: involuntary gasping and rapid breathing in the first minute. Anyone who goes under at that moment can inhale water. After the shock there are roughly ten minutes in which arms and legs still work well; after that they become increasingly weak. It usually takes considerably longer to lose consciousness from hypothermia. This rule of thumb, “1 – 10 – 1”, helps you stay calm: first breathe, then get out purposefully.

The second big danger concerns the helpers: anyone who runs after someone who has broken through often breaks through too. It is safer to help from the bank with long objects or ropes and to call the emergency number immediately.

The danger is not over after the rescue. Body temperature can keep falling, and anyone who has inhaled water can develop breathing problems hours later. So everyone who has broken through belongs somewhere warm and should be checked by a doctor.

Step by step

Someone has fallen through the ice – Phase 1 of 4In the water: first minute. Keep your head above water, close your mouth when waves come. Do not thrash. Breathe out slowly and deliberately until your breathing calms – this takes about a minute. Hold on to the edge of the ice without heaving yourself up while you are still gasping. Shout for help loudly if people are nearby.
Phase 1 of 4

Phase 1 of 4

In the water: first minute

Keep your head above water, close your mouth when waves come. Do not thrash. Breathe out slowly and deliberately until your breathing calms – this takes about a minute. Hold on to the edge of the ice without heaving yourself up while you are still gasping. Shout for help loudly if people are nearby.

The animation shows the key actions of each phase schematically; the text below is what counts.

  1. Phase 1

    In the water: first minute

    • Keep your head above water, close your mouth when waves come. Do not thrash.
    • Breathe out slowly and deliberately until your breathing calms – this takes about a minute.
    • Hold on to the edge of the ice without heaving yourself up while you are still gasping.
    • Shout for help loudly if people are nearby.

  2. Phase 2

    In the water: getting out

    • Turn towards the direction you came from – the ice held your weight there.
    • Lay your arms flat and wide on the ice, kick hard with your legs until your body is horizontal.
    • Push yourself forward onto the ice with kicks and your arms; with ice picks drive them in alternately and pull.
    • Do not stand up on the ice: roll away, then crawl along your own track to the bank.
    • If it does not work: keep your arms on the ice so they can freeze to it or give you a hold, move as little as possible and keep calling for help.

  3. Phase 3

    As a helper on the bank

    • Call 112 at once or have someone call, and give the exact location.
    • Call out to the person: breathe calmly, hold on, help is coming.
    • Keep other people off the ice, even if they want to help.
    • Reach out from the bank: a long branch, pole, ladder, rope, strap, knotted-together scarves.
    • Throw something that floats if within reach (life ring, canister, ball).
    • Only if there is no other way and you are secured: lie flat on your stomach, spread your weight on a ladder or board, never walk upright. Never alone and never without a rope.

  4. Phase 4

    After the rescue

    • Get the person to a warm place out of the wind at once; move them gently, preferably lying down if severely hypothermic.
    • Carefully remove wet clothing, or wrap blankets, an emergency blanket and dry clothing over it.
    • If the person is awake and can swallow: warm, sweet drinks without alcohol.
    • Do not rub, no hot shower or bath, no hot-water bottle directly on the skin.
    • Unconscious with normal breathing: recovery position and keep them warm. No normal breathing: start CPR and follow the dispatcher's instructions.
    • Even if the person feels fine: have them checked by a doctor, especially if they went under.

★ Pro tips

What experienced people do differently: proven practice from mountain rescue, fire services, lifeguards and civil protection that beginners rarely know.

  1. Carry a pole across your body

    On natural ice, carry a long stick or pole horizontally in front of your waist. If the ice breaks, it spans the hole and gives you something to hold straight away. It also helps when pulling yourself out.

  2. Open your hip belt on the ice

    Undo your pack's hip and chest straps when on ice. If you break through you can shrug it off quickly and slide onto the ice more easily. A heavy pack strapped to you pulls you backwards.

  3. Throw a rope with a loop

    In icy water hands go numb fast and can barely grip a rope. Tie a large loop in the end first, so the person can pull it over head and arms and under the armpits. Then they only have to lean into it.

  4. Fix the spot with two landmarks

    If someone goes under, fix the exact spot: pick two landmarks on the shore that line up with the hole from where you stand (a tree and a house corner, say). Fire crews and divers can then search in the right place straight away.

What to watch out for

  • Cold shock and drowning

    Most deaths in cold water happen in the first minutes from cold shock and drowning, not from hypothermia. Controlling your breathing is therefore the first step.

  • Dangerous patches of ice

    Dark or grey patches, cracks, snow on the ice, reed beds, inflows and outflows, bridges and jetties: the ice is often thinner or rotten here.

  • Helpers in danger

    Anyone who runs upright onto the ice to help breaks through in the same place. Reach and throw rather than go.

  • Continued cooling

    Core body temperature can keep falling even after getting out. Handle hypothermic people gently, do not let them walk around, wrap them warmly.

  • Delayed effects of water in the lungs

    Coughing, breathlessness or increasing tiredness in the hours afterwards are warning signs. Have everyone who went under checked by a doctor.

Common mistakes

  • Going onto ice that is not officially opened or whose thickness is unknown.
  • Going onto the ice alone.
  • Thrashing wildly in the water and trying to heave yourself up straight away.
  • Standing up on the ice as soon as you are out.
  • Running upright to the hole as a helper.
  • Taking a hot shower or drinking alcohol after the rescue.

Prepare in advance

  • Go only onto officially opened ice and follow local notices.
  • Wear ice picks (ice claws) round your neck when you go onto natural ice.
  • Never alone, and keep your distance from each other; carry a rope and a throw line.
  • Take spare clothing in a waterproof bag and a warm drink.
  • Explain the ice rules to children and never let them onto the ice unsupervised.
  • Rehearse self-rescue in your mind: turn, horizontal, push, roll.

Special consideration

Children
Children cool down particularly quickly in water and underestimate thin ice. For them: ice only with adults, only on opened areas.
Dogs on the ice
Many ice accidents begin when people run after a dog that has broken through. Dogs often get out by themselves; people should not follow but call 112.

Sources

  • Eisregeln der DLRG · Deutsche Lebens-Rettungs-Gesellschaft e. V. (DLRG)
  • Cold water immersion: kill or cure? · Experimental Physiology (M. J. Tipton, N. Collier, H. Massey, J. Corbett, M. Harper), 2017
  • Wilderness Medical Society Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Treatment and Prevention of Drowning: 2019 Update · Wilderness & Environmental Medicine (Wilderness Medical Society), 2019
  • Wilderness Medical Society Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Out-of-Hospital Evaluation and Treatment of Accidental Hypothermia: 2019 Update · Wilderness & Environmental Medicine (Wilderness Medical Society), 2019
  • 112 – the European emergency number · European Commission

Your situation

Who is in the water?
Aids
After the rescue

Matching entries

0 rules apply

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Basics for this situation

Why: Always applies to this situation – regardless of your answers.

All rules of this situation (6)

  1. [not active] If Who is in the water? = Me

    The first minute is the most dangerous: anyone who inhales water while gasping can drown. Control your breathing first, then get out purposefully in the next few minutes.

  2. [not active] If Who is in the water? = Me and Aids = Ice picks / ice claws

    Drive the ice picks into the ice ahead of you one after the other and pull yourself out while kicking hard with your legs.

  3. [not active] If Who is in the water? = Another person

    Call for help first, then help from the safe bank. Anyone who runs after them without protection often becomes a second victim.

  4. [not active] If Who is in the water? = Another person and Aids = Rope, branch, ladder, pole

    Reach or throw, do not go. A loop at the end of the rope is easier to hold. If someone must go onto the ice, then lying flat with weight spread (ladder, board) and secured by a rope.

  5. [not active] If After the rescue = Car, house or hut nearby

    Get somewhere warm at once, carefully remove wet clothing and wrap in blankets. Handle gently – no hot shower, no alcohol, no rubbing.

  6. [not active] If After the rescue = Far from any warm room

    Swap wet clothing for dry, find wind shelter, use an emergency blanket and insulation from below. A fire helps if it can be lit quickly – getting help comes first.