Cold water shock kills – that’s was the simple yet hard-hitting message we gave when we launched the campaign. Yet cold water shock, the body’s short term involuntary response to being suddenly immersed in cold water, can be fatal.

As the Portfolio holder for Safer communities I worked with The Safe Durham Partnership (SDP) and Fiona Gosling the mother of cold water shock victim Cameron Gosling to launch and roll out ‘Dying to be Cool’ – a campaign designed to raise awareness of the risks of cold water shock amongst ten to sixteen year olds by  visit schools to deliver awareness raising assemblies on the dangers of cold water shock.

More information on the new campaign can be found at www.durham.gov.uk/dyingtobecool