You were in no immediate risk of dieing, but let's change a few variables.

Let's say you are fairly rural, with 400 meters line of sight to the nearest neighbor. No cell coverage, and it is unlikely that you can scream loud enough to be heard that far. The whistle could be heard that far, though.

Or, rather than a ladder incident, you went down a bank and did this in the fall. Not super cold, but not really warm either. (I did that once, and had to wait for my buddies to find me and give me a hand splinting it.) You had the means to keep warm and signal.

So it might not have been an "emergency"; think of it a drill with live ammo. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />