Drowning doesn't look like drowning

[SailFastTri]

I had seen this article years ago, and someone shared it with me again today.

It's a quick read, and worthwhile -- this info might save a life



https://www.soundingsonline.com/voic...-like-drowning

[k3fuller]

Originally Posted by SailFastTri

I had seen this article years ago, and someone shared it with me again today.

It's a quick read, and worthwhile -- this info might save a life



https://www.soundingsonline.com/voic...-like-drowning

Very good read, thanks!

[Wotname]

Yes, always good to be reminded of this.

[JPA Cate]

Everyone who ever cruises, or even takes their kids to the pool, river, lake or beach should read this till they can quote it back and spread the word. Not surprised it got 700,000 shares in a week on FB.


I'm a retired Water Safety Instructor, and I blush to say that my class was not taught how to accurately identify a drowning person.

I would be delighted if it were required reading for all school children, as part of normal health instruction. ....especially to use the flotation device between you and the one in distress.

Ann

[thinwater]

Absolutely. We had a high school kid start to drown off our boat, and people were actually waving at him. Only my daughter recognized what was happening and took off after him. She dove right over me and swan with power, cluing me in that there was a problem. I had not noticed.


Scary.

[Checkswrecks]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fyvtNewabM

[capt.rob]

Definatly worth reading!! A++++

[stewie]

The article brought shivers to my back and to a day a long long time ago. When I was a boy of 12 I was in group who were swept out to sea by a rip tide. Someone shouted to swim for the shore. As I swam a girl in front of me appeared to be bobbing up and down in the water. Instinctively I grabbed her by her costume and pushed he in front of me until we got into shallow water. The memory is as vivid in my mind now as it was then. As a teenager I was often embarrassed by her as when I saw her with her friends she would shout across the street “ That is Stewart and he saved my life”. And her friends would all cheer. Sadly an adult in our group drowned and his body was later recovered by a helicopter.

The article has finally given me an explanation as to why she was, to me, bobbing up and down. For 60 years I never realised the girl was so close to drowning. A frightening thought.

[Cpt Mark]

I taught SCUBA for over 20 years, have been certified as Water Safety Instructor numerous times to keep current and I've never seen this before. Posting on Facebook. Thank you for sharing.

[Don C L]

Yes, thank you for that article! It reminded me of a very sad story from a few years back of a little girl who drowned right next to her boat in a slip. She had fallen in and made no noise. Her parents, assuming she had wandered off searched for her for hours before finding her in the water next to their boat.
I will add I too am embarrassed to admit I was a river guide for 20 years and we did not have this kind of information. We always had our PFDs on while on the river, and thank God I never had to deal with a drowning or near drowning situation (except for me once!) but it's the times when we are playing around, maybe in shallow water, and things seem safe that make this article's info so important for!

[dannc]

The following is from page 14 of a US Coast Guard publication: http://www.uscg.mil/hq/cg5/cg534/On%...e/OSFall06.pdf.

Characteristics of the Instinctive Drowning Response:
1. Except in rare circumstances, drowning people are physiologically unable to call out for help. The respiratory system was designed for breathing. Speech is the secondary, or overlaid, function. Breathing must be fulfilled, before speech occurs.
2. Drowning people's mouths alternately sink below and reappear above the surface of the water. The mouths of drowning people are not above the surface of the water long enough for them to exhale, inhale, and call out for help. When the drowning people's mouths are above the surface, they exhale and inhale quickly as their mouths start to sink below the surface of the water.
3. Drowning people cannot wave for help. Nature instinctively forces them to extend their arms laterally and press down on the water surface. Pressing down on the surface of the water,
permits drowning people to leverage their bodies so they can lift their mouths out of the water to breathe.
4. Throughout the Instinctive Drowning Response, drowning people cannot voluntarily control their arm movements. Physiologically, drowning people who are struggling on the surface of the water cannot stop drowning and perform voluntary movements such as waving for help, moving toward a rescuer, or reaching out for a piece of rescue equipment.
5. From beginning to end of the Instinctive Drowning Response people's bodies remain upright in the water, with no evidence of a supporting kick. Unless rescued by a trained lifeguard, these drowning people can only struggle on the surface of the water from 20 to 60 seconds before submersion occurs.

Here is another video:
https://youtu.be/L0KTqPloUiU

Later,
Dan

[Ahmet Erkan]

FYI.
Electric shock drowning (ESD) is one of many causes for drownings. Evidently it is very difficult even for coroners to detect a drowning caused by ESD because no burn marks on the body when electrocution has taken place in water.
To make matters worse you cannot jump in and swim to a drowning person to save them if the cause of the drowning is electrical leakage, you can only get your boat and shore power wiring tested regularly to prevent ESD due to your own boat. What all this means is every time we hire a diver to clean the bottom of our boats in a marina we are putting a person at risk. Pay a qualified marine electrician to test your boat preferably just before you are due for an in water bottom cleaning.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_shock_drowning

[jooa]

Thank you very much for this article. I am the Director of a boat owners group in Vancouver and am sharing this with the members of our group.


When I was about 6 years old I almost drowned, the water mere inches deeper than I was tall. My body reacted exactly as described in the article. Luckily every time I went down my toes just managed to touch lake bottom and I made it to shallower water. Those moments are forever burned into my memory.


Many thanks for posting the article.

[captlloyd]

Go on YouTube and do a search for “ Drownproffing”. It should be taught to every child at every school that has a pool. It should be taught at every pool that has swimming lessons. If you learn this technique you will die of exposure long before you drown.

[dannc]

Originally Posted by Ahmet Erkan

FYI. ...
Electric shock drowning (ESD) is one of many causes for drownings....
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_shock_drowning

ESD is not just a marina issue either. People are getting killed in pools that have power issues. A year or so ago a teenager was killed when she went to check on the pool chemistry. The pool light was electrifying the water and when she went to get a water sample she was shocked, fell into the pool and drowned.

Later,
Dan