1. Don't panic
2. Immediately rinse off with cold water or take a cold shower. (Hot water opens the pores in your skin, allowing the oil of the plant-urushiol- to seep into your skin and eventually into your blood.)
3. Use a urushiol removal cleanser (I recommend Tecnu ® Extreme ™ Cleansing Scrub). If this is not availible, then use dish soap instead (Dishsoap is better than regular soap at removing oils.)
IMPORTANT- Make sure you thoroughly wash underneath your fingernails. If you have urushiol underneath your fingernails anywhere you touch will be covered in blisters within 24-48 hours. Also, wash or burn the contaminated clothes.
Note: The Urushiol can contaminate footwear, clothes, tools, and pet fur, thus there is always a potential of transferring the plant oil without any direct skin contact at the time of exposure. Here's a scary thought: The oil can remain active on footwear, clothes, and tools, etc. for as long as a year. Smoke inhalation (breathing the smoke) from burning Poison Ivy, can also cause severe poisoning, as the soot particles can carry the oil.
If this is done with in 30 minutes of exposure you should be rash free (unless you are abnormally allergic). After than 30 minutes, well, this should greatly reduce the misery.
