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#Post#: 2397--------------------------------------------------
Drowning! It doesn't look like drowning.
DIR By: Michael Caswell
Date: March 16, 2023, 7:28 am
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Reproduced from an article on www.tinboats.net, and I thought it
relevant for us canal loving folks.
Drowning Doesn’t Look Like Drowning, by Mario on May 19, 2010
“The 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,
as 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 two
stunned owners. Directly behind them, not 10’ away, their
9-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 50’ away, what the father
couldn’t recognize from just ten feet? 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 #2 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 10% 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!” – as 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 instead 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 people are in the
water:
* Head low in the water, mouth at water level
* Head tilted back with mouth open
* Eyes glassy & 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 their back
* Ladder climb – rarely out of the water
So if a crew member falls overboard and everything looks OK –
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 … get to them fast and find out why!
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the author of
the referenced article are not necessarily those of the
Department of Homeland Security or the U.S. Coast Guard.
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