A typical human can only go about 3–5 minutes without oxygen before the brain starts to suffer serious, often irreversible damage, and around 10 minutes without oxygen is usually fatal in normal conditions. There are rare exceptions (for example, very cold-water drownings or medically induced cooling) where lowered body temperature slows metabolism and survival without oxygen can stretch toward 20–60 minutes, but these situations are extremely uncommon and require rapid medical care. Even brief oxygen deprivation can leave lasting neurological problems, so any interruption in breathing or circulation is a medical emergency that needs immediate attention.