When an Ohio woman's car fell through the ice of Lake Arthur sometime Sunday night or early Monday morning, there were several steps she - and anyone else who falls through ice - could have taken to save her life.

Chris Calhoun, a water safety instructor at Butler County Community College, said there are several precautions a person can take in the event of falling through ice.

Once in the water, Calhoun said, a person's clothes will become very heavy, adding to the difficulty of climbing out of the water on to the ice.

Because the ice is slippery, Calhoun suggests using keys or anything else sharp to dig into the ice and, while kicking in the water, lifting yourself onto the ice.

"It's like trying to climb onto a piece of glass with grease on it," he said.

Calhoun also said a rope could be useful, as someone who has not fallen into the ice can pull the victim from the frigid waters.

While pulling yourself out of the water and onto the ice, he said to roll onto the ice in the direction that you came from.

The reason for rolling, he said, is because it distributes the person's weight across a wider area rather than if he stands and concentrates his weight in a much smaller area.

"If I lay down," he said, "my weight is distributed over a 6-foot area."

Once onto the ice, he said to crawl in the direction from which you came before falling through the ice.

Again, he said the reason for crawling is to distribute weight across a wider area.

The reason for traveling in the direction from which you came, he said, is because the ice up until the point you fell in was thick enough to hold the weight. The area past the point, however, is likely thinner, which caused the ice to break.

Once walking, Calhoun said to use shuffle steps, in which a person slides his or her feet across the ice rather than lifting the leg and walking, also preventing any possible breaks in the ice.

But if the ice begins to crack, Calhoun said to resume crawling rather than running, as the key is to distribute weight across a wide area of the ice.

He said many factors influence ice thickness on a lake, such as the amount of sunlight shining on the water, nearby roads, and underground springs.

Calhoun said the best way to save lives while on ice is to wear a lifejacket, which would keep you on top of the water, ready to be rescued.

"Unless someone knows these things … they can get themselves in trouble," he said.

But, even after successfully getting out of the icy water, a person still faces other problems, such as hypothermia and finding shelter, Calhoun said.