Friday, July 15, 2011

“Drowning Doesn’t Look Like Drowning”

Having only witnessed drowning in movies and TV, I was surprised to read this:

Drowning Kid?  Not likely.Drowning is not the violent, splashing, call for help that most people expect… Drowning is almost always a deceptively quiet event. The waving, splashing, and yelling that dramatic conditioning (television) prepares us to look for, is rarely seen in real life.”

And this is amazing:

“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.”

Read the whole thing.

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