I just recently had to watch a horrible video of a kid drowning. Several kids were in the pool and adults standing around the pool. One kid had wandered to close to the deep end and he just bounced off the bottom a few times to get a breath above the water and then sank to the bottom. No one noticed a thing. After a pretty good while one of the kids finally noticed him at the bottom and called an adult who got him out. Thank goodness they knew CPR and were able to save him.

As the weather gets warmer, this thread is worth a bump.

I had a job where I worked in a warehouse and an office lady was my closest friend and a co-worker who I had to interact with a lot.
One day she was notified at her desk that her 18 yo son had just drowned. Will never forget that. A real sad day.
Also worked in a Sheriff's office. One deputy had lost a six year old to a local drowning. Was also involved in a rescue situation where another young child drowned. Others survived. It happens more than most people imagine.

Very informative and educational. Thx to the op for posting. I've never seen this info.

It seemed like I was never going to get the hang of swimming. The other kids all tried to teach me how, but it wasn’t working for me. After several close calls, it really bothered me that I couldn’t learn how.
Than one day my dad and I were wade fishing in a small lake when I lamented that it didn’t look like I was ever going to learn how to swim.
Dad blurted out, “You don’t know how to swim?”
When I said no, he told me, “Go put our fishing rods on the bank because you’re gonna know how to swim in about five minutes.”
Dad was true to his word. In less than a half hour, I had the skill and the confidence to swim all the way across that lake and back. That was one of the best days of my life.
The secret is in who is doing the teaching. No kid should not know how to swim.

I worked as a LG on an Atlantic beach for 3 summers when I was young, and I used to dive under to avoid them climbing me, grab their hips and spin them 180 degrees. This was very fast and extremely aggressive, then I would shoot up, grab them across the chest from collarbone to opposite armpit, and pop both of us to the surface. I remember the whole thing from the dive to popping them up in reverse, was very fast and aggressive. I didn't worry about hurting them because the aggressive nature of the whole thing guaranteed I wouldn't drown with them, avoiding a wrestling match in deep water. I only did that once, and that was the last of it. That worked pretty good and was the way I was trained, the the rest was a leisurely tractor pull to the shore. I didn't rush going back if they were OK, otherwise it was a race. The leisurely pace helped me make sure both of us got back since depending on the conditions it let me catch my wind. The hardest one was a man already underwater, during a Noreaster, after we closed the beach. Another story.

I worked ocean rescue while in HS & college. Head position #1. Lack of arm movement #2. Some times people are not drowning but don't know the water has moved them into a Newley formed area of bad water. (we called themes puss) We pulled out twelve people in this situation who were suddenly being sucked out.

I saw a couple who were not acting normally and we went out for them...they were engaged in some after foreplay...geesh.

Another time I was working a surfing beach and a guy fell off his board and had trouble getting a hold of it. Went out after him and asked "Can you swim?" "No, I can't". Geesh.

Thanks for resurrecting this thread. I never knew this about drowning and I'm a certified diver. This is so different from what I knew about drowning that I learned from watching Baywatch.

quote:

Originally posted by drew3630:
Thanks for resurrecting this thread. I never knew this about drowning and I'm a certified diver. This is so different from what I knew about drowning that I learned from watching Baywatch.

I was an Assistant Instructor of SCUBA diving, so I knew of it but it's good to post.

Drowning happens very quickly and very quietly. Learn CPR/rescue breathing and stay vigilant.

I somehow missed this post earlier. It brought back vivid recollection of my near-drowning experience as a kid, about 10-11. The only thing that saved me was the river was shallow enough I could bounce off the bottom, make it to the surface and yell "Dad!". Fortunately Dad was nearby.

By the way, I never learned the Australian crawl. I learned the side stroke, but not until high school when other attempts to teach me failed. Just read that WW II UDT teams used the side stroke as used less energy and made less splash.

As a cardiologist at Maui Memorial Hospital had to deal with many, many near-drownings, making sure they weren't heart attacks. When friends visited we warned them where not to snorkel, where not to body surf. Oh, and don't take the bike ride down Hale'akala.

Thank you for this timely reminder for the folks who may not know.

Very useful reminder for the summer season. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for sharing this info. Fortunately, I have never witnessed such an event, but now know what to look for. Lord willing, it never happens.

I’m not sure why I didn’t look at this when I first saw the topic listed, but I didn’t. I’m glad I did now. Thanks.
T