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Original poster

Article about what drowning actually looks like

61 replies

alteredimages · 01/06/2017 10:21

I just read this article and found it really terrifying. It points out that most people learn what drowning looks like from television and films, which does not realistically depict how people act when drowning. I had absolutely no idea and it is frightening to think that I could so easily have missed the signs.

Hopefully I am unusually ignorant on this topic, but if not please take a minute to read about the signs of drowning. Usually the person drowning makes no noise or hand movements.

OP posts:

Bumshkawahwah · 01/06/2017 20:21

I used to help out at my son's preschool, and every Friday they got to play in the shallow part of the school swimming pool. I was watching a little girl who I knew was having swimming lessons and hated putting her face in the water, balanced on a noodle, with her face in the water, very still. I was looking at her and thinking how well she was doing, that she wasn't scared to go stick her face in the water anymore. Just at that point, my friend, who is a swimming teacher came bounding over and grabbed her out of the water. The little girl took this giant breath and burst into tears. Honestly, the water was only up to her waist and there were four adults watching. If I had had my back turned, or my other friend haven't seen her that moment, I don't know what would've happened .

Justaboy · 01/06/2017 21:55

Could i just add my tuppeny worth. If anyone has been involved in a near drowning accident please get them checked out by a medical professional either ambulance, doctor or hospital. There can be effects that don't show upright away.

Maxandrubyrubyandmax · 01/06/2017 22:13

I really really get angry when parents don't keep young kids within an arms reach in the pool. Drowning only takes seconds and is more often than not unnoticeable. Treat water with the absolute respect it deserves. We wouldn't leave our kids to play with any other object which could kill them, teach them to pull themselves out of water, float and respect water

TurquoiseTranquility · 02/06/2017 00:54

Thank you for flagging this up, OP!
Another thing to be aware of is cold shock. Don't ever dive, or let your kids dive, into cold water. It doesn't have to be freezing, just cold to touch. Entering cold water quickly can paralyse your muscles.

Also, something I've picked up from watching youtube videos on the subject just now, if you're rescuing a drowning person, unless it's a tiny child, you must have a floatation device to hand. Push it under the drowning person rather than let them grab you and pull you under. Anything that floats will do the job.

And of course when in natural bodies of water, stay well clear of rocks and trees. Waves can throw you against rocks, trees could have underwater roots to get tangled in or hit your head on.
Stay safe and happy splashing :)

sonyaya · 02/06/2017 00:57

I didn't realise - thank you for sharing.

CakeNinja · 02/06/2017 01:07

I witnessed a close shave last year at a water park abroad.
Standing at the bottom of the lazy river splash pool, waiting for the dc and dp with another waiting family beside me. Their older dc were coming down, we could see them in the distance. Family beside me were all laughing and waving, cheering etc.
All of a sudden, in dives the lifeguard and scoops up their smallest son who had, in front of our very eyes, probably 6 other grown ups stood within 2 metres of him, had walked up the steps and down into the splash pool, and was under the waterline. Not splashing, not making a sound. Deadly quiet in fact.
My god, hate to think how long it would have taken any of us to notice he was under the water had the lifeguard not been there.
Absolutely terrifying.

TheKrakening3 · 02/06/2017 01:24

My friend witnessed a near-drowning in a resort pool. A lifeguard was screaming at a woman who was sitting in the shallows talking to her friend. The woman had her baby in her arms and the baby's face had slipped underwater. Had the eagle-eyed lifeguard not seen it, the baby would have drowned in its mother's arms.

winglesspegasus · 02/06/2017 01:50

learn to swim
teach or have someone qualified teach your children to swim
ffs you live on an island in one of the coldest watercourses on earth
we were taught to swim before we could walk
and just because they can swim dont assume thats enough, stay with them at all times
dont drink or party
have pulled too many out

TheClaws · 02/06/2017 01:52

It doesn't have to be little people, either - keep an eye on everyone around water, including the elderly.

My elderly next door neighbour drowned in her backyard pool quietly. Her at-home grandson didn't hear a thing and neither did I. When I pulled her out of the pool, she had been there for some time and was freezing cold, and I couldn't revive her. It is thought her sari caught on something and she fell in, and was unable to get herself out

nannybeach · 02/06/2017 06:54

children should be taught "basic first aid" at school. Not everyone can learn to swim, also most of the adults who drown are swimmers, that get into difficulty, imagining it is OK to go into the sea, quarries etc because they can swim so will be OK

PregnantAndEngaged · 02/06/2017 07:42

I know first hand that drowning is not how it is depicted in movies. As a child, my inflated ring burst and I was unable to swim, my mum had turned to round to tend to my brother and didn't see that I had gone underwater. It was the scariest thing ever because no matter what I tried to do to make myself heard or seen, nothing worked. The pool was packed and not even lifeguards spotted me. Luckily my mum turned round and was panicking "where's she gone?!" and saw my deflated ring on the water so knew something had happened, and her and her friend started looking for me. Terrifying

Anyway, I still can't swim as I was too scared to ever learn after that incident :( Although I've been considering recently going to adult swim classes.

shockthemonkey · 02/06/2017 07:55

Wannabe, that's precisely how my DS very nearly drowned in a packed paddling pool while the lifeguard looked on oblivious.

Part of the problem was the pool was too crowded with kids who by rights should have been in the bigger pool. They were all larking around so close to my DS that one or more of them were actually touching him.

He was very quiet and relatively still... it was only his wide eyes and unusual mouth movements that gave any clue as to what was happening.

user1487175389 · 02/06/2017 08:02

Terrifying but timely reading as the summer is nearly here and my dds like to swim in the sea while I watch ds on the beach.

Agoddessonamountaintop · 02/06/2017 08:17

I saw a toddler nearly drown on holiday sixteen years ago, and it still haunts me. I was bf DS2 by the pool, when a mother put her daughter into the shallow end with a toy; the water must have been four to six inches deep at that point. I was gobsmacked when the mum proceeded to lie down on a sunbed to read her book. It was probably only a couple of minutes before the girl tipped forwards and was silently thrashing her arms but with no awareness or strength to help herself up or to get her face out of the water. If she'd chosen another spot to plonk her down she would have died.

AnnetteCurtains · 02/06/2017 08:18

I wish they still had public service announcements on tv
I live right near a busy beach and have a healthy respect for the sea , but every year I see visitors taking risks and having ' fun' jumping from the rocks , going out in dinges etc

ThePurpleOneWithTheNut · 02/06/2017 08:18

Good thread. A timely reminder. And so many similar stories.

My Dd when she was very small had been playing in the shallow splash pool and followed Dh and dd1 into the main pool. She just sank, not even a ripple. No one saw but me sitting at the side and one man in the pool who happened to notice. We both rushed to fish her out but she disappeared in a split second. There were lifeguards about too. I can absolutely see how someone could drown in a busy place.

StarHeartDiamond · 02/06/2017 08:41

Another thing to watch out for is children who can swim who go out of their depth.

At 5 or 6 or 7 you might think "my child can swim so that's ok". But that's when they set off from a side or can still put their feet down if needed.

A child can be happily swimming/playing in water and then gobjust a few inches out of their depth. Then they want to stop swimming but can't find the bottom of the pool with their feet. They silently start rising and falling, no noise, no drama. Up and down just their head going into the water every few seconds, vertically. It looks like they are playing or doing fine but they don't stay above long enough to take s proper breath. That's what drowning looks like. I've seen it (happily so did the life guard).

Don't take your eyes off your young kids in a pool even if they can swim. Swimming doesn't always mean they can go from bobbing vertically to swimming horizontally again, when out of their depth. They just sink, silently.

AHedgehogCanNeverBeBuggered · 02/06/2017 09:03

PregnantAndEngaged please get yourself to adult swimming classes, they could save your life. My mum learned as an adult, the classes are generally aimed at very nervous swimmers and each person can go at their own pace. My mum was determined that none of her DC would be afraid of water, so took us swimming every week from a very young age - we can all swim like fish. I hope you manage to overcome your fear, and that you make sure your DC can swim.

MrsMulder · 02/06/2017 09:03

This has just made me rethink an incident at dd's swimming lessons last week. I was watching on the poolside (most parents don't but I like to) dd was on her back with a pool noodle and turned to reach the side, falling out of the pool noodle. She then missed the side and was bobbing up and down, I went over and pulled her out, she was crying and coughing. The swim teacher didn't see her until I had gone over, it has just frightened me that she may have only been able to bob for 20 seconds before going under. I played it down at the time as I didn't want my daughter to be frightened (she is only 3) but now I have had time to think I need to have a serious talk with the swimming school. If I hadn't have been on the side, I dread to think what could have happened

EnjoyYourShitCake · 02/06/2017 09:10

Thank you so much for sharing. My breathing feels all funny now. It always does when I read about drowning/see it on television, for some reason.

Itsafunnyoldgame · 02/06/2017 09:14

My nephew drowned and we got our ds2 and dd1 into swimming lessons before we went on holiday last year, dd1 was very scared about jumping in but after our holiday has overcome that fear, I will continue the swimming lessons until as far as possible now I think.

StarHeartDiamond · 02/06/2017 09:44

MrsMulder - you should definitely have a word. That's what's called a near miss. Maybe they need to modify their lesson plan, work out what went wrong and make a change.

SocksRock · 02/06/2017 09:50

When my DD1 was little and had lessons where the adults were in the pool with the children, I was standing at the side with her standing on the side waiting to jump in. I turned to say something to my friend standing next to me, and as I did, DD jumped with no warning and hit the side of my head with her full body weight. I went under with her on top of me, and in the 20 seconds or so it took for the teacher and lifeguard to realise I wasn't coming up again and neither was she were the longest of my life. My legs and arms wouldn't work and my brain was screaming at me, but I'd breathed in water and my whole body was paralysed. I still have cold sweats thinking about it and my kids are heavily supervised around water, even though they think I'm overprotective.

GingerWh1nger · 02/06/2017 09:58

Thank you so much for sharing this - I had no idea. My DH can't swim at all and I am a weak swimmer, it's made me think about investing in some adult lessons when we can next afford it!

TodaysFishIsTroutALaCreme · 02/06/2017 10:06

I can't thank you enough for sharing this.

I am 41 years old and up until this moment, I thought people drowned like they did in Hollywood movies. I literally had no idea.

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