Drowning doesn't look like drowning.

[Globalti]

Very useful article for anybody who has kids or is around kids and water:

http://mariovittone.com/2010/05/154/

 

[asterix]

I saved someone from drowning. At school, we were both non-swimmers but liked to go to the deep end by hanging on to the edge. Then we got daring and started to see how long we could let go before regaining our grip. This guy seemed to have let go for rather a long time and then I saw his arms waving beneath the surface as if looking for the edge but he was too far out. So I leaned over as far as I could, grabbed one of them and pulled him back. He was extremely grateful for such a simple act! There is no doubt that if I hadn't noticed his 'silent waving' he might well have drowned, as he said himself.

 

[Silver Fox]

Very useful article that and supports the action at any multiple trauma scene. It's the quiet casualties that need the assistance first.

 

[I like Skol]

Chilling! I was at Center Parcs last week with my kids age 6 and 9 and obviously we spent a lot of time in the pool! This is why we have persevered with swimming lessons for both boys even when they didn't particularly want too and continued past the point of being able to swim. Oldest is now a very strong swimmer and will do ten or more lengths 'just for fun' after a lesson and the 6yr old is getting the hang of it although is still closely supervised around deep water.

 

[Fnaar]

Good article. I got 'saved' by a lifeguard at a pool once, when I was about 7. Thing is, I was (am) actually a very strong swimmer, I just somehow got into difficulty.

 

[Shaun]

Yup, agreed - that's exactly what happened when Little Ms. Admin was drowning behind me.

We'd been playing in the pool at Centre Parcs - lots of noise and other kids about - and my sister had come for a day-visit with her kids. Little Ms. Admin and my niece can't swim yet and so we stuck to the shallow end of the pool.

My nephew (who is a little older and can swim) decided it would be a good laugh to run off to the deeper part of the pool with all the play things, so I headed off after him. I got to the nephew, rescued the toys, and when I turned around to head back to the shallow end I saw what looked like a child bob up in the water and then very quickly disappear under it again - no noise, no arm waving, just up and then quickly back down again.

It didn't look right at all and I instinctively shot forward and grabbed them, lifted them out of the water, and ended up being gripped around the neck - vice-like - by my daughter who collapsed onto me, burst into tears, and managed to blurt out "Daddy, you didn't come and save me".

In the race to get to the nephew (who was giggling his little head off at being chased) I hadn't noticed my daughter had followed on behind and got out of her depth. It was very distressing and, as the linked article says, nothing whatsoever like the dramatic splashing around style "drowning" you see on the TV. A lucky escape!

She's booked in for swimming lessons over the summer holidays.

 

[I like Skol]

We'd been playing in the pool at Centre Parcs................
...........She's booked in for swimming lessons over the summer holidays.

Shaun, whether you realise it or not you actually hint at something that I think is a massive problem. It appears that you and I are reasonably financially comfortable? I'm not saying rich or wealthy but with disposable income to spend on nice holidays and swimming lessons (not cheap even though run by the local authority at our public pools). I really worry about what happens to the kids from poorer or deprived families as, to the best of my knowledge, the schools programme for swimming lessons seems to verge on being non-existant where I live. How are these kids supposed to learn how to swim? I am sure we are all in agreement that given the pleasure, safety and exercise benefits of swimming, everybody should be taught how to swim but I don't think spending around £6/week/child for swimming lessons is high on the agenda for parents of lower income families (we could argue that perhaps if they spent less on fags, booze and crappy takeaways then they could afford it, but that's a seperate discussion!).
How many children are missing the chance to learn how to swim? How many adults can't swim and surely, non-swimming parents are less likely to encourage their children to swim?
Anyway, perhaps this is more of a topic for P&L but it's a good heads up for us parents and distressing to think that we could stand by and watch ourr children drown without even realising until it was too late

 

[Globalti]

I heard recently that you only need to inhale 1/3 of a pint of water before you are in trouble. Oh yes, I remember, it was that TV programme called Wild Swimming with the delicious Alice Roberts.

 

[Fnaar]

Shaun, whether you realise it or not you actually hint at something that I think is a massive problem. It appears that you and I are reasonably financially comfortable? I'm not saying rich or wealthy but with disposable income to spend on nice holidays and swimming lessons (not cheap even though run by the local authority at our public pools). I really worry about what happens to the kids from poorer or deprived families

I love the idea of swimming being a class issue, but you are quite right. I can't offer any sensible answer, beyond the reminiscence that growing up 'on the wrong side of the tracks' as it were, we spent loads of time going swimming, just for (cheap/free) fun. Local pools, rivers, lakes etc. It's just that people don't look to this for time-filling/entertainment any more. There have to be lessons. Apart from school swimming sessions, I never had a lesson at all, yet was a strong swimmer (see above, though) by the age of 5, and I was entering diving competitions from 9 onwards.

 

[benb]

Fantastic article, had a lot of stuff that I didn't know. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Night Train]

I've not saved anyone from drowning but I have been 'saved' by a lifeguard at the local pool when I was learning to swim at school. I wasn't actually drowning but I was playing in the deep end, sitting on the bottom, adjusting for neutral buoyancy so I could float at different depths and so on.

Reading that link suggests I was probably looking like a classic drowning.

Useful information, thanks for posting it.

 

[ColinJ]

As one of the comments below the article said - "Articles like this are why the internet was invented."

I always wondered why so many people drown so close to others who don't even notice what is happening.

 

[Piemaster]

The thought that very few people (me included) wouldn't recognise the signs of someone in serious trouble is quite scary.

 

[Panter]

Thanks for sharing, very interesting (and worrying) read,

 

[Night Train]

I really worry about what happens to the kids from poorer or deprived families as, to the best of my knowledge, the schools programme for swimming lessons seems to verge on being non-existant where I live. How are these kids supposed to learn how to swim?

Even when I was at school we had swimming classes for a few years and then the swimming was stopped in favour of football, cricket and basketball.

We (the unofficial school kids union) went on strike and, along with some minor uniform changes, we got swimming reinstated for those who didn't want to waste 2 hours kicking, batting and chucking a ball about.
Its a shame if that is lost again.