Drowning - Read especially if you have kids.

[Roger Long]

Seeing MaineSail's beautiful photo took me back to my days as father of young children and this item which showed up on the Wooden Boat Forum reminded me of one of the most chilling events of my life:

http://gcaptain.com/maritime/blog/drowning/?10981

My heart still skips a beat when I think about the day a bunch of the adult family were sitting on the dock at the lake. It was almost dinner time and no one even had bathing suits on. Dead calm and quiet. One of the younger kids said quietly, nervous about breaking into adult conversation, "Michael is in the water." I looked over and saw just fingers above the surface at the end of the dock and his face dimly visible under the surface. He was old enough that we let him go down to the dock by himself. Ten more seconds and we wouldn't have seen him under the murky water and would have gone looking for him all around the house and in the woods. He had just slipped quietly off the dock and the surprise of the sudden immersion put him instantly into quiet drowning mode. We were four adults just 10 feet away. It will give me the shivers for the rest of my life.

 

[Rick Sylvester]

It is impossible to die from hypothermia in cold water . . .

Thanks for sharing your experience Roger.

And before anyone takes me to task for my post title, read the accompanying article on hypothermia as well as the frightening but riveting video to understand the remainder of that sentence.

I read/watched the articles and video this morning on the Sailing Anarchy site and was so moved I immediately copied it to the CSBB board.

After boating for over 40 years I thought I knew a thing or two about drowning and hypothermia. Boy, was I wrong.

In addition to Roger's link on drowning, here's the link to the companion article and video on hypothermia:

http://gcaptain.com/maritime/blog/cold_water?11198

Do it. If you're a boater you need to know this stuff.

 

[Ross]

Better safe than sorry. When my grand daughter was about 3 and a few months, we were all in and around the pool and she could swim. Her mother looked over at her and she was face down in the water and not moving, so mama jumped in and hauled her up. Steph wanted to know what all the commotion was about, "I was just seeing how long I could hold my breath". She was in shallow water in a whirlpool type space.

 

[sailaway78]

I went in lasy year

I fell in last year off a dock. Some may remember my post on this embarasing moment. Anyway, I consider myself a pretty good swimmer, but after about 20 minutes in water with temp. in the mid 50's, I was about too weak to help myself. I certainly believe one would drown before dying of hypothermia.

 

[LuzSD]

Roger, thank you so much for not only the really informative and stunningly clear scenario in the article, but your own experience too. It really helps to hear it in such simple terms. I can imagine how you will never forget that experience and thanks for sharing it with us.

I had a similar experience twice with children in pools right below where adults were chatting and having drinks. A child just slipped down the side of the pool and though she was just right there, we could not really see her due to the odd angle and reflection. As with you, I have never forgotten that.

I am going to share your experience and your link with everyone I know, it is really really important, especially with warm weather here. Thanks a million.

 

[zeehag]

i took care of the after effects of the water and family concern, and even lack of concern--fence the pool vs no fence---turn a back one second and kid is down..they are so fast....is a good idea for anyone with children and old folks in the family to know cpr and life saving..

 

[rpwillia]

Wow

Roger, I read the article on drowning and then on hypothermia and was just astounded. Pretty sobering to think about how little we understand about something so important.

 

[Alan]

To that end I made it a point that my son learn to swim early. I had been a lifeguard while in college and I understand what drowning looks like. At five weeks of age we took our new son to the local Y for swimming lessons. To our great relief he turned into a little tadpole. Of course he was still supervised around pools and the beach but it's a great feeling to know that if your child falls into water somewhere, he can at least swim. Parents should strongly consider teaching swimming to their children while they are very young, you never know if they might need it.

 

[JonnyQuest]

I don't think this was taught in my Lifeguarding class

Granted there is too much information to cram into a course and it may have been in the book, but such a huge diffreence between mis-perceptions and reality should have been addressed. Especially since it was training to be a life guard at a facility with tons of roudy kids.

(but that was back in the 80s and I don't think anyone was really paying attention then )

Thanks everyone for sharing your accounts.

 

[Brian D]

Wow, as a child I almost drowned had it not been for a very attentive lifeguard. Later in life, my youngest son (maybe 2 at the time) slipped into a pool and before I could react, 3 US Marines were in there pulling him out. Unfortunately we lost him anyway to a car accident three months before his HS graduation.

Thanks for the articles guys.

 

[BobM]

Unfortunately, in my family a 2 year old drowned in a pool during family gathering before I was born. All it takes is a moments inattention. I highly recommend that people with small children or even pets get one of those alarms that makes a piercing sound on contact with water.

 

[LuzSD]

Oh Brian, I can't imagine.......... I am so sorry