Drowning doesn't look like "drowning" /water safety

[Old Ironmaker]

An article I came across that everyone should read as we are most likely all going to be in, on or near the water for the coming months. Play safe.

 

JD

 

 

Artículo en Español

 

The new captain jumped from the cockpit, fully dressed, and sprinted through the water. A former lifeguard, he kept his eyes on his victim as he headed straight for the owners who were swimming between their anchored sportfisher and the beach. "I think he thinks you're drowning," the husband said to his wife. They had been splashing each other and she had screamed but now they were just standing, neck-deep on the sand bar. "We're fine, what is he doing?" she asked, a little annoyed. "We're fine!" the husband yelled, waving him off, but his captain kept swimming hard. "Move!" he barked as he sprinted between the stunned owners. Directly behind them, not ten feet away, their nine-year-old daughter was drowning. Safely above the surface in the arms of the captain, she burst into tears, "Daddy!"

 

How did this captain know, from fifty feet away, what the father couldn't recognize from just ten? Drowning is not the violent, splashing, call for help that most people expect. The captain was trained to recognize drowning by experts and years of experience. The father, on the other hand, had learned what drowning looks like by watching television. If you spend time on or near the water (hint: that's all of us) then you should make sure that you and your crew knows what to look for whenever people enter the water. Until she cried a tearful, "Daddy," she hadn't made a sound. As a former Coast Guard rescue swimmer, I wasn't surprised at all by this story. Drowning is almost always a deceptively quiet event. The waving, splashing, and yelling that dramatic conditioning (television) prepares us to look for, is rarely seen in real life.

 

The Instinctive Drowning Response so named by Francesco A. Pia, Ph.D., is what people do to avoid actual or perceived suffocation in the water. And it does not look like most people expect. There is very little splashing, no waving, and no yelling or calls for help of any kind. To get an idea of just how quiet and undramatic from the surface drowning can be, consider this: It is the number two cause of accidental death in children, age 15 and under (just behind vehicle accidents) of the approximately 750 children who will drown next year, about 375 of them will do so within 25 yards of a parent or other adult. In ten percent of those drownings, the adult will actually watch them do it, having no idea it is happening (source: CDC). Drowning does not look like drowning Dr. Pia, in an article in the Coast Guard's On Scene Magazine, described the instinctive drowning response like this:

 

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.

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.

Drowning people cannot wave for help. Nature instinctively forces them to extend their arms laterally and press down on the water's 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.

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.

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.

(Source: On Scene Magazine: Fall 2006)

 

This doesn't mean that a person that is yelling for help and thrashing isn't in real trouble they are experiencing aquatic distress. Not always present before the instinctive drowning response, aquatic distress doesn't last long but unlike true drowning, these victims can still assist in their own rescue. They can grab lifelines, throw rings, etc.

 

Look for these other signs of drowning when persons are n the water:

 

Head low in the water, mouth at water level

Head tilted back with mouth open

Eyes glassy and empty, unable to focus

Eyes closed

Hair over forehead or eyes

Not using legs Vertical

 

 

 

Hyperventilating or gasping

Trying to swim in a particular direction but not making headway

Trying to roll over on the back

Ladder climb, rarely out of the water.

So if a crew member falls overboard and every looks O.K. don't be too sure. Sometimes the most common indication that someone is drowning is that they don't look like they're drowning. They may just look like they are treading water and looking up at the deck. One way to be sure? Ask them: "Are you alright?" If they can answer at all they probably are. If they return a blank stare you may have less than 30 seconds to get to them. And parents: children playing in the water make noise. When they get quiet, you get to them and find out why.

 

___________

 

disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the author are not necessarily those of the Department of Homeland Security or the U.S. Coast Guard.

 

Read the article at gCaptain.com.

Edited April 18, 2016 by Old Ironmaker

[AKRISONER]

My uncle owns a small fishing camp/motel up in northern alberta. One day he and his business partner went out for a fish.

 

A local guy who hung out at the bar a lot, a bit of a drifter you could say, that had gotten to know my uncles business partner was hanging around as they were about to leave to go for the evening bite. My uncle's business partner invited the local out on the boat to which the drifter accepted the offer.

 

Sure enough an hour or so into the fish out in the middle of the lake, this guy falls in the water...my uncle immediately notices that the guy appears to be totally frozen, they throw him the life rope and buddy doesnt even flinch...he just sort of freezes and they watch him sink.

 

long story short my uncle and his business partner called the cops, had some serious explaining to do and the police divers found the guy a few hours later.

 

My uncle says the image of this guy fully conscious, eyes open but frozen slipping into the depths will be stuck in his mind forever.

Edited April 18, 2016 by AKRISONER

[BillM]

That's some great info.

[Fisherman]

Good reading, thanks.

[reelingMachine]

Thank you for posting.

[manitoubass2]

Excellent post!

[fishnsled]

Great info. Thanks.

[Old Ironmaker]

When I read it this AM I realized I have never though about the signs of someone in distress. Opposite of what I thought. The only experience I had was when I was 11 and my brother was 5. He was almost gone when my buddy scooped him up out of 5 feet of water. And come to think of it he didn't make a peep when he was in trouble only a few feet away from us. The adults didn't believe us for some reason, I remember that. We still talk about it 50 years latter.

[Gnote]

Good read and scary stuff for sure, thanks for posting.

[wormdunker]

Thanx Ironmaker. I hope many people read your post.

[Old Ironmaker]

My uncle owns a small fishing camp/motel up in northern alberta. One day he and his business partner went out for a fish.

 

A local guy who hung out at the bar a lot, a bit of a drifter you could say, that had gotten to know my uncles business partner was hanging around as they were about to leave to go for the evening bite. My uncle's business partner invited the local out on the boat to which the drifter accepted the offer.

 

Sure enough an hour or so into the fish out in the middle of the lake, this guy falls in the water...my uncle immediately notices that the guy appears to be totally frozen, they throw him the life rope and buddy doesnt even flinch...he just sort of freezes and they watch him sink.

 

long story short my uncle and his business partner called the cops, had some serious explaining to do and the police divers found the guy a few hours later.

 

My uncle says the image of this guy fully conscious, eyes open but frozen slipping into the depths will be stuck in his mind forever.

That's a tragic and frightening story. Watching someone die will haunt you for life, especially due to an accident. It must be tough on your Uncle for certain. I have always prayed I never found a body in the water. I have seen photos, I don't want that experience in my life. There have been a few times a Police boat came buy and they told us they were looking for a drowning victim near us on the water.

Edited April 19, 2016 by Old Ironmaker

[Old Ironmaker]

Thanx Ironmaker. I hope many people read your post.

Please wear that new inflatable you have there Brian, please. If someone falls out of my boat I am going to assume they are drowning.