What Parents Need To Know About Drowning

From Wake Up America

We are now in the middle of swimming season and hundreds of people each summer will drown.  Many with another person just feet away.  Wake Up America reminds us of this and gives us some pointers on drowning.
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The following excerpt is from an article about what parents need to look for when their children are in the water to keep from drowning. It's not what you expect and it just might be the most important article a parent could ever read!

Drowning Doesn't Look Like Drowning

. . .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. . . .

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.
2. Drowning people’s 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’s mouths are above the surface, they exhale and inhale quickly as their mouths start to sink below the surface of the water.
3. Drowning people cannot wave for help. Nature instinctively forces them to extend their arms laterally and press down on the water’s 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.
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.
5. From beginning to end of the Instinctive Drowning Response people’s 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.

(Source: On Scene Magazine: Fall 2006 (page 14))

Little Angel, Xander Vento, Died yesterday, August 9, 2012

Fort Worth boy who helped struggling girl in pool dies

A 4-year-old boy who jumped into a swimming pool Monday to help a younger child was removed from life support Thursday.

Xander Vento was pronounced dead at 3:20 p.m., a spokeswoman for Cook Children’s Medical Center said.

“We in some way hope our son’s life serves as an inspiration,” Xander’s parents, Cris and Misty Vento, said in a statement released by the hospital. “He was the angel in the pool who sacrificed himself to save another. And now he continues to give as an organ donor.”

The Ventos thanked all those who kept the family in their prayers.

“We were blessed to have such a kind and caring boy as Xander who set an example for all of us,” they said. “And even now he will be saving lives by giving of himself.”

Emergency workers were called about 3 p.m. Monday to the swimming pool at the Villages of Woodland Springs in far north Fort Worth.

How to Administer CPR for Drowning Infants and Toddlers

This is an excellent demonstration video!!!

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Have fun this summer and stay safe!