Drowning Doesn't Look Like Drowning

RE: Drowning Doesn't Look Like Drowning

Former Member — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 12:40:26 GMT

Good to know what drowning doesn't look like, but I still don't know what drowning does look like. From the description, it seems to look a lot like somebody treading water, but with their head lower than usual. How could I spot that from far away?

RE: Drowning Doesn't Look Like Drowning

mcatp — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 10:48:16 GMT

RE: Drowning Doesn't Look Like Drowning

Former Member — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 10:00:59 GMT

Trained in Red Cross lifeguarding not too long ago. When I worked at the YMCA they had all the lifeguards from the area Y's come to a training session. It only involved watching videos of actual drownings. It showed the child that just peacefully slipped under the water's surface and was not discovered for 8 minutes. He never kicked or splashed. It is one of those images that will forever be burned into my brain. I can never be around a water body now and not be on the lookout for this type of situation. Understood. I started lifeguarding in 1976, worked in the field off and on until 1996; my SO doesn't understand why I don't find it relaxing to sit and watch the water at the beach... even after all these years I still scan continuously.

RE: Drowning Doesn't Look Like Drowning

Bill Sive — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 06:46:05 GMT

Secondary Drowning: articles.nydailynews.com/.../31732256_1_history-of-medical-problems-lungs-wabc Secondary drowning happens when a person has already been saved from drowning, but sometimes several hours later the lungs start filling up with fluid again. this is usually because the lining of the lungs have been severely irritated during the first drowning if a significant amount of water has gotten into the lungs, and the reaction to that creates fluid excretion that ends up inside the lung. especially when a person has drowned in salt water, the salt can draw more water out of the lung tissues. So, a drowned person can be revived, then feel OK for while afterwards, but then become extremely ill again afterwards and sometimes even die from the secondary drowning. Therefore, even if the victim feels OK after the initial drowning experience, always take them to a hospital for observation. Compare it to when you have a bad cold and the membranes inside your nose produce a lot of watery stuff (runny nose). A similar thing happens inside the lungs when they are irritated by the effects of the first drowning. Mainly salt water, and heavily chlorinated pool water will make this worse. Pure fresh water is not as bad (but fresh has other side effects as it gets absorbed in the blood stream and affects the chemical balance of the blood. I never heard of this until I read the article in the New York Daily News. I believe this would get past the most seasoned rescue personnel. Bottom line. Take any drowning victim to a hospital for observation if you believe he/she fits the criteria above.

RE: Drowning Doesn't Look Like Drowning

Former Member — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 14:54:35 GMT

Fortunately I don't lifeguard anymore - but I remember when I did, there were several parents who had their children in serious trouble within arms length of them - and weren't even aware. Had to push them aside to rescue their child. Printed your article out - thanks so much. My son is the head guard & a site manager over the city swim lessons this summer - hopefully he'll share this with the others there as well. Hope it helps! I ran a pool in an area of FL that hadn't had a pool in over 20 years, the residents had no understanding of pool etiquette, and few swimming skills. It was a "wet" pool, meaning the guards were constantly wet from making saves, we had 26 saves the first month we were open, it was nuts! But it also gave us huge insights into what a drowning person looks like; that article was spot on, it requires a ton of vigilence to keep people safe, much more than most of us were taught in our guard classes.

RE: Drowning Doesn't Look Like Drowning

jswim — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 12:38:49 GMT

RE: Drowning Doesn't Look Like Drowning

Michael Heather — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 10:31:36 GMT

My lifeguard and WSI training in 1970 taught us that all drowning victims could flail their arms, kick as well as polo players and would fight you as a rescuer. And it always happened in a freshwater lake. Drowning victims seem to have changed over the years.

RE: Drowning Doesn't Look Like Drowning

Celestial — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 10:19:49 GMT

More than a few times I've had to shove a new guard into the water to go get a kid, they just couldn't see that the child was in trouble. Fortunately I don't lifeguard anymore - but I remember when I did, there were several parents who had their children in serious trouble within arms length of them - and weren't even aware. Had to push them aside to rescue their child. Printed your article out - thanks so much. My son is the head guard & a site manager over the city swim lessons this summer - hopefully he'll share this with the others there as well.

RE: Drowning Doesn't Look Like Drowning

moodyrichardson — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 09:33:27 GMT

I just went through WSI training, not full blown guard, but Red Cross also refers to active and passive victims.

RE: Drowning Doesn't Look Like Drowning

gdanner — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 09:30:41 GMT

Great article!! :applaud: I was trained as a lifeguard in 1992, and I don't recall ever hearing about what a true drowning victim looks like. I'm with Queen and I'd love to hear about current training on this subject if anyone has had recent lifeguard training. Same here. First trained in '96 or '97 and I don't remember this being in any of the training. I haven't done any lifeguarding since 2002 or so. I only lifeguarded in small pools; never had to dive in the water to save anyone.

RE: Drowning Doesn't Look Like Drowning

gobears — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 09:24:27 GMT

Great article!! :applaud: I was trained as a lifeguard in 1992, and I don't recall ever hearing about what a true drowning victim looks like. I'm with Queen and I'd love to hear about current training on this subject if anyone has had recent lifeguard training. I haven't had formal lifeguard training for some time but the YASA course at the Y (basically a course about how to help the lifeguard) mentions the difference between an active and a passive drowning victim and what to look for.

RE: Drowning Doesn't Look Like Drowning

Former Member — Thu, 31 May 2012 16:46:16 GMT

Maybe the real way people drown should be mimicked during training more. It's been so long since I was a lifeguard I no longer recall any details. Even if I did, teaching lifesaving has probably changed more than a bit... I've been out of it the last ten years, but back then the training was starting to change to recognize this more quiet victim, rather than the loud splashing caricature previously used. I'd love to hear from someone with current training info.

RE: Drowning Doesn't Look Like Drowning

Former Member — Thu, 31 May 2012 16:21:31 GMT

What a great article! That is information everyone should know. It's really interesting when you train new guards, their first few weeks on deck they are hyper aware... but they don't know what they're looking at. More than a few times I've had to shove a new guard into the water to go get a kid, they just couldn't see that the child was in trouble.

RE: Drowning Doesn't Look Like Drowning

smontanaro — Thu, 31 May 2012 12:25:16 GMT

RE: Drowning Doesn't Look Like Drowning

Allen Stark — Thu, 31 May 2012 11:28:21 GMT

What a great article! That is information everyone should know.

RE: Drowning Doesn't Look Like Drowning

Former Member — Wed, 30 May 2012 14:43:57 GMT

A frightening but useful reminder. Please consider posting to the Non-Swimming Related Forum for a wider audience to see.