Having the right support team is vital.
In our experience these should be your swimming partners and ideally not family members, the ice mile recovery process can be interesting to say the least so spare your loved ones the emotional roller coaster and rely on one friend that has shared your training shivers.
Your ice mile centre will have a recovery team with competent safety and first aid personnel who are used to dealing with swimmers in cold water recovery. Listen to them and follow their instructions, they know what to do.