{"id":173,"date":"2012-06-28T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-06-28T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/niamharthur\/what-drowning-looks-like-hint-it-doesnt-look-like-drowning\/"},"modified":"2026-07-25T18:47:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T18:47:12","slug":"what-drowning-looks-like-hint-it-doesnt-look-like-drowning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/niamharthur\/what-drowning-looks-like-hint-it-doesnt-look-like-drowning\/","title":{"rendered":"What Drowning Looks Like! (Hint: It Doesn\u2019t Look Like Drowning)"},"content":{"rendered":"

As parents it is vital to understand water safety (especially as drowning is the number two cause of death in children under fifteen\u2026 just behind vehicle accidents).<\/p>\n

I just read an article that absolutely chilled me to the bone about parents who didn\u2019t even realize their 9 year old daughter was drowning about ten feet away from them (don\u2019t worry\u2026she was just fine, but the situation was incredibly scary<\/em>).<\/p>\n

What You Need to Know About Drowning:<\/h3>\n

There is a difference between Aquatic Distress<\/strong> (someone thrashing around and calling for help, like you might have seen in the movies) and Drowning.<\/p>\n

When someone starts to drown their body goes into a natural reaction called the \u201cInstinctive Drowning Response\u201d<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

This means their body will try to stay alive, so secondary instincts like waving, and calling for help are completely impossible.<\/p>\n

Their body is simply trying to get above water long enough to take one breath.\u00a0 They don\u2019t kick, but remain virtical so they can use their arms to propel themselves upward for a moment to breath out and then in again.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, they don\u2019t usually get enough surface time for the inward breath.\u00a0 They can often maintain this response for 30 to 60 seconds before they are submerged.<\/p>\n

Instictive Drowning Response:<\/h3>\n
    \n
  1. 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.<\/li>\n
  2. Drowning people\u2019s 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\u2019s mouths are above the surface, they exhale and inhale quickly as their mouths start to sink below the surface of the water.<\/li>\n
  3. Drowning people cannot wave for help. Nature instinctively forces them to extend their arms laterally and press down on the water\u2019s 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.<\/li>\n
  4. 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.<\/li>\n
  5. From beginning to end of the Instinctive Drowning Response people\u2019s 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.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    (Source: On Scene Magazine: Fall 2006 (page 14))<\/p>\n

    Here\u2019s a list of what someone might do in the Instinctive Drowning Response<\/strong>, so you know what to look out for:<\/p>\n

      \n
    • Head low in the water, mouth at water level<\/li>\n
    • Head tilted back with mouth open<\/li>\n
    • Eyes glassy and empty, unable to focus<\/li>\n
    • Eyes closed<\/li>\n
    • Hair over forehead or eyes<\/li>\n
    • Not using legs \u2013 Vertical<\/li>\n
    • Hyperventilating or gasping<\/li>\n
    • Trying to swim in a particular direction but not making headway<\/li>\n
    • Trying to roll over on the back<\/li>\n
    • Appear to be climbing an invisible ladder.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      List from Mario Vittone<\/p>\n

      It\u2019s important to remember that most children playing in the pool or any water will make noise, if you don\u2019t here anything for more than a few seconds you need to check on your children.<\/strong><\/p>\n

      Even if you think you have strong swimmers it is important to always pay attention to children in the pool a<\/em>nd make sure you know what to look for, at least half of the children who drown every year in the U.S. are less than 25 yards from a parent or adult!<\/p>\n

      Please pass this vital information on to all parents, use the links to share it on Facebook and Twitter!<\/span><\/p>\n

      Let\u2019s help each other keep our children safe!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      As parents it is vital to understand water safety (especially as drowning is the number two cause of death in children under fifteen\u2026 just behind vehicle accidents). I just read an article that absolutely chilled me to the bone about parents who didn\u2019t even realize their 9 year old daughter was drowning about ten feet […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4,5,6,7,9,10,93],"tags":[190,191,192,193],"class_list":["post-173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2-minute-tips","category-affiliate-marketing","category-baby-reflux","category-blogging","category-cool-people","category-fun","category-growth","category-parenting-101","tag-child-safety","tag-drowning","tag-instictive-drowning-response","tag-what-drowning-looks-like"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/niamharthur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/niamharthur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/niamharthur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/niamharthur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/niamharthur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/niamharthur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":228,"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/niamharthur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173\/revisions\/228"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/niamharthur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/niamharthur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/niamharthur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}