Read this. Now. Especially if you’re a parent.
The Instinctive Drowning Response – so named by Francesco A. Pia, Ph.D., is what people do to avoid actual or perceived suffocation in the water. And it does not look like most people expect. There is very little splashing, no waving, and no yelling or calls for help of any kind. To get an idea of just how quiet and undramatic from the surface drowning can be, consider this: It is the number two cause of accidental death in children, age 15 and under just behind vehicle accidents – of the approximately 750 children who will drown next year, about 375 of them will do so within 25 yards of a parent or other adult. In ten percent of those drownings, the adult will actually watch them do it, having no idea it is happening source: CDC.
Read the rest at Drowning Doesn’t Look Like Drowning.
Hat tip to Pam for pointing it out.
This is what the media should be telling the public instead of trying to panic them with stories about “great whites” off of New England. Gee this might really help someone especially those who have not dealt with drowning or have not dealt with it in a long time.
Thank you – reposting to the Facebooks and bloggertubes.
Dad: Amen; this is the kind of thing that people need to know.
now i am officially freaked out.
Mandy: If your kids are quiet, you should be freaked out anyway ;)