Do You Know That Drowing Is a Silent Death??

We were just talking about this at a 4th of July BBQ. And people did not know how silently drowning can happen.

A child in my family (cousin I never knew) died when he was 2, in a hotel swimming pool. Though I didn't know him (it happened before I was born) I have always been extra cautious around kids and water. I watch my son particularly close because he doesn't know his limits and doesn't take a break when he needs to. His body gets tired, he loses his breath and in deep water he could drown in a second.

I grew up swimming in rivers, which is much different than swimming in a pool. We never took for granted the danger of water even though all of my siblings and I were strong swimmers.

Thank you for the reminder. For me it doesn't really mater how well my kids can swim (my daughter is an excellent swimmer)... things happen quickly and I never take a chance. And yes... if a child under my supervision drowned because I wasn't watching, I would feel responsible.

Thank you so much for this reminder. I grew up with a pool and have one in my backyard but did realize how silent drowning was until watching a video a few years ago. It's so, so, scary. I think that many, many people expect to hear a commotion. There was a woman who drowned in a public pool in my area last year, in the middle of the day, with people swimming in the pool and lifeguards on duty. They didn't even know someone had drowned for 2 days (the water was not clear, which was a whole 'nother issue). Every summer there are stories of children drowning in plain sight. It's just not worth the risk. As I responded in my other post, my 14-year-olds are not allowed to swim without an adult in the pool area. Whenever we swim, I am inside the pool area with a phone in case of an emergency. I do bring my laptop out, but I face the kids and literally look up and take a head count every minute. If I have to leave the pool area, everyone comes out of the pool and if I have to go into the house, they all come outside of the pool area and we close up the gate and they wait for me to come back before re-entering.

This is very true. My 3 year old son drowned almost 5 years ago. He was great in the water, but his grandma left him alone in the tub and and he died.

Sorry, Jo, but not everyone is aware that drowning people don't make much noise. They expect that there will be lots of splashing and coming up to scream for help. Students have drowned during gym class with other students in the pool because they expect a commotion and don't notice that their classmate is at the bottom of the pool.
Drowning doesn't look like drowning: http://mariovittone.com/2010/05/154/
Everyone needs a reminder sometimes about this issue.

Wow! Why are people being so rude on here? Yes I'm talking to you Jo. She's just trying to give us something to think about or be reminded of. It's summer! A good time to hear reminders like this. Do you really think she wrote this to offend anyone? I mean really? Why do you have to be so negative? If you don't feel you need this reminder then don't read it! And don't answer it! Move on to another question. No one is holding a gun to your head making you read or answer every single question on this sight. I am so sick and tired of seeing all these rude comments all of a sudden. If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all!

That's why the authorities say that a baby can drown in just a little bit of water, and you're not even supposed to leave a bucket with water around inside your house when there's a toddler. Evidently, toddlers have drowned falling into a bucket, as hard as that is to imagine.

It's scary to think about, Mom.

Added: Reading some of the other posts made me remember when my 2 1/2 year old was in the pool at the Y just as the lesson had finished. The teacher turned away from my son to speak to someone, and he went under. And like Corie is saying, there was NO sound. I yelled to the teacher and she wasn't hearing me because of all the echo and squealing by the kids. I went feet first into the pool (in all my clothes) and pulled him out. It was very upsetting, the teacher felt terrible, and I sometimes can't believe I took him back there.

Dawn

My 3 year old (at the time) daughter was in swim lessons and I watched her every moment in her little class of 4 children. She was on a metal table that they put in the water that made them able to stand, but it was in 4 feet of water. My husband said my name to let me know he was running to the car. I turned to look at him, turned back and she was gone. I heard nothing, saw nothing... None of the other parents did either. I jumped up, panicking and sure enough, she had stepped off the table and was under the water. Thankfully, the teacher saw that she was missing almost immediately and grabbed her up. The whole thing lasted only about 5 seconds, but those were the worst 5 seconds of my life. So, Jo, I feel this is an important post and even if you don't, I don't know why you needed to be so up in arms about it. Yes, most people are probably aware, but maybe this post opened one person's eyes... Could save a life. I would have expected SOMEONE at that pool to see or hear something. She just slipped right under and never came back up.

Great reminder. I guarantee that there are lot of people that don't know this fact.

Also, just ignore the snotty responses. Obviously some people missed the point of your post & used it as an opportunity to be aggressive for no reason.

I agree with you! Many people don't know this. If kids are around water, you don't take your eyes off them for one minute. I usually agree with Jo, but not on this issue. If someone leaves a child unattended and the child drowns it is not an accident, it is negligence.
edit: Just wanted to add two incidents I have personal knowledge about. When my son was 3, we put him in a YMCA swim class. No parents were allowed in the pool area. The life guard kept leaving the area. Once while she was gone our son slipped underwater while the instructor was halfway down the pool with another child and had her back turned. Thankfully, my husband was/is in great shape and a fast runner or we might have lost him.
Ten years ago, our neighbors had a pool party. A six-year-old boy drowned with 10 adults standing around the pool (knowing our neighbors they may have all been drunk.) None of them knew cpr. Thankfully, the paramedics were able to get him back and careflight him to the hospital. As an early intervention specialist, I know that even when children are brought back, they often have cognitive delays/impairments.

This is very true. in the jacuzzi with our baby and family we all looked up to see an airplane overhead. I was with her in the jacuzzi but did not realize that she had slipped underwater unnoticed. She was only under for seconds when I realized it, and there was no harm done. But it was a wake up call that if a kid goes under, you don't hear it.

Yes, drowning is a silent death.
Any asphyxiation or suffocation is. Usually.

ie: ALSO, Choking is a silent death as well.
How do I know this?
Because it happened to me.
Because, when I was in Middle School, while in math class, I was sucking on a hard candy. All of a sudden, without any warning, it got lodged in my throat. I don't know how. I wasn't talking or laughing or doing anything, besides just sitting at my desk, listening to my Teacher's lecture.
But, I.could.not.breathe and it was sudden. Even the boy next to me, had no idea I was in trouble. Even the Teacher did not know.
I don't know how I survived.... but trying to use the last iota of air and strength I had left in me... I sorta coughed/forced that hard candy out of me... and it flew out of my mouth. Only then, did kids in class notice, anything....the candy flying into the air.
ALL of this, took only seconds. Only seconds.

I was about out of air. I Could only barely very barely breathe anything in, or out. It was using my abdominal muscles, that I forced/coughed out that hard candy, out of my throat.

All the while, it was a totally SILENT, suffering and suffocating.
Suffocating, is silent.
I lived through one.
Luckily, I managed to survive it.

People may say, 'well if you were suffocating why didn't you try and get attention or help for yourself or flag someone down?"
WELL because, when you are suffocating, you CANNOT think rationally nor do you have any extra time, to waste time or to take the time to even look for someone to help. And you certainly do NOT have the energy or breath.... to call anyone, and you certainly do not have the voice to call anyone or the energy to even tap someone else on the shoulder to 'tell' them you are in trouble. Because, you are suffocating... and cannot breathe. Which means you also cannot talk or take in air or breathe out or anything. And even moving or flailing your arms, takes air. Which you cannot even breathe or have. Because, you are suffocating.
It all happens, in seconds.
SPLIT seconds.
Nano seconds.

Choking, does not only occur in toddlers or babies.
It can occur with anyone any age.
Any suffocation or asphyxiation, or choking, can and does, occur at any, age.

Suffocating/drowning/asphyxiation, does not happen like on TV. Nor is it noisy and drawn out, like on TV or in the movies.

Thank you for your child safety post. Spreading the good word of prevention is key. Best wishes to ALL parents. These are difficult topics but awareness is key. Keep your babies close!!!

You are right. A woman I worked with had her nephew drown, he survived with extreme brain damage. Her SIL was in the kitchen fixing dinner and didn't know he'd slipped out and past the gate into the pool, she never heard a thing. She quit her job as a sheriff's deputy to care for him, her husband divorced her.

We cannot ever be too careful with our children and water, even an inch in the bathtub...another friend's neighbor left her daughter in the tub unsupervised and she died in about an inch of water, a measly inch. Our children's lives are too precious to take a chance with, thanks for the reminder!

I'm more comfortable when they have taken lessons for years and can swim the length of the pool back and forth, yet I still watch them, accidents take just a second.

God bless you, Brandy

I would never leave a child alone in a pool and rely on listening. In my scenario I "might" leave my two children who are competent swimmers (and whose behaviour I trust) together if it were only three feet of water, and I could hear them, and I checked on them regularly. I did however say that I would more likely wait until the older child were 12, and well on his way to lifesaving certification. When my kids were little and went out to play in the back yard (no pool) I would keep and ear on them, and the moment I thought it was too quiet I would check on them.

A good reminder. Thank you.
You can never be too safe.
I'm always so nervous of these types of scenarios.
Bad things can happen in an instant in: pools, tubs & ponds.
Keep close.
Keep them in your line of sight.
Be right there nearby so you can jump in & pluck them out.

Seriously you thought your update was so important you needed a question? I think everyone is well aware that you don't make a lot of noise drowning. I think most are aware that silence is deadly regardless if you are in a pool or not.

When people say they are in earshot it tends to mean you can glance up and see the pool. I can hear my pool from the kitchen, I can look up at any time and see the pool. My kids were able to swim since they were two and they were ten before I would even consider being in the house while they swam.

Accidents will happen and a fair few are tragic. Still they are accidents. I don't like the tone of this because it makes people feel like they are responsible. Sure if you watch your children 24/7 they may be always protected but are they really living?

Ya know, I am 44, I swim alone sometimes, should my kids feel guilty because I drown when they should have been watching me?

Yep.

There's and old saying: If you're talking, you're not drowning.

Which is part of keeping an ear out. Quiet is what you're listening for.

THAT SAID; ESP in open water (currents, etc.) people DO scream for help as they're fighting being drug under. It's really the worst thing to do, as that may be your last breath for awhile. Its about 50/50 on whether people yelp for help (it tends to be a high pitched 'eeleeeep' sound that only last a second), and people who gulp air. For ocean swimming people are often trained -in the dark in a dunk tank with active water so you can't see or feel the divers coming) to gulp air instead of screaming by being yanked under... Either by divers or cord you're belted to.

People scream in the water when
- They're scared of drowning, but not actually drowning
- When they're having fun

As soon as you've got water down your trachea air CAN'T move through your larynx. (More training, both in being drowned & water boarded)... For some time.

Some movies get it right... With those who are being questioned via 'partial drowning' (only one aspect of water torture), by not being able to do more than flop around for awhile / no questions asked for several minutes while they're vomiting..

So yeah. Pretty familiar with the whole process.

Which is why I do feel comfortable.

I read this article about just what you said and it was surprising. Glad you brought it up again.

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

Yep.
Now - ask these same people when it's ok to let their kids bathe (in the bath tub) unattended or just be near by instead of in the bathroom with them.
You'd be surprised how many think 3 - 4 yrs old is ok.
A bath tub and a swimming pool are not really that different.

Remember to also be careful around lakes and streams, especially after flash floods. I was reminded of this and just talked to my 10-year-old son about it yesterday, because the normally tiny stream behind our house turned into a churning muddy monster. It would be very dangerous to get too close and fall in.

Yes, I do.

And our local pool reminded everyone that children with floatation devices (or even PFDs) still need to be supervised. The drawing on the white board depicted a child with water wings on his wrists and head under water. Sounds like there was an incident last week like that. Drowning is not the splashing that you see in the movies. I'm glad you are also getting the word out because I try to do so every summer, too. It's not even enough to be in line of sight with little kids. Be IN the water with them.

Yes, it is silent. When I saw your post, I immediately remembered this video I saw earlier in the summer. It is very eye opening. Even for people who think they understand that drowning is silent.

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

For me personally, I listen for my kids, but not for screams of help--I listen for the pauses. When they aren't talking/laughing with each other, I LOOK.

And even looking, you may not know that you are SEEING SOMEONE DROWN if you don't know what to look for. Please read the story and watch the video in the link. You will be in for a surprise if you haven't already seen this.

It is called the "Instinctive Drowning Response".

Thanks for the reminder. I sometimes take it for granted that my pool is shallow and that my kids are so loud. I will do a better job supervising the remainder of the summer.

Yes, I do, but there are still a lot of people who don't know this yet. Also, child floatie devices and early swim lessons can give a false sense of safety.

A little girl at my daughter's school almost died a few weeks ago. Her dad turned to take care of her sibling, and she slipped off her arm floaties, started to play on the steps and silently slipped off the last step. She had taken 2 years of swim lessons, but is still only 3 or 4 yrs old. Fortunately, after several days in ICU, she is recovering fully. It only takes a few seconds.