In 1945 a committee was set up by the Admiralty to investigate the cause of loss of life after sinking in the last war, when it was estimated that between 30,000 and 40,000 probably died after successfully abandoning ship. As a result of this, the Admiralty and later the Ministry of Defence, encouraged work to determine the causes of death and to improve the chances of survival after shipwreck.

Their film Cold Can Kill deals with the prevention, causes, effects and treatment of hypothermia. Two copies of the film have now been obtained for use by Inspectors of Lifeboats as required to instruct lifeboat and ILB crews. The film was produced by the RN Air Medical School, and runs for about 20 minutes..