Family: July 2010 Archives

snopes.com: Delayed Drowning Deaths

Sometimes erroneously called "dry drowning," these are cases where water in the lungs prevents oxygen intake, but the effects are delayed, sometimes as much as a day. Symptoms are extreme fatigue, changes in behavior, and difficulty breathing. Click the link to learn more. Anyone involved in a near-drowning incident should be closely monitored for at least 24 hours.

Drowning Doesn't Look Like Drowning

Parents, especially, you need to click that link and read the article.

"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)."