What is drowning? What is near drowning?
At the end of this
unit, you should be
able to:
Explain what
drowning and
secondary drowning
are
Recognise the signs
and symptoms of
drowning
Explain how to treat
and look after
someone who has
nearly drowned
What is drowning?
Drowning is when someone dies because they have suffocated in water or fluid. When a person breathes in water or fluid, the muscles of the larynx close and block the airway. This means the person stops breathing.
What is near drowning?
Near-drowning is when someone nearly drowned. He or she stopped breathing (because the muscles of the larynx closed when he or she breathed in water or fluid), but started breathing again in time, so did not die.
What is secondary drowning?
This is when the water or fluid that was breathed in irritates (troubles) the lungs, and makes the airway swell and get narrower. This can happen many hours after someone nearly drowned. This again causes the person to be unable to breathe, and could cause the person to die. For this reason, it is very important that a person who seems to have recovered (got better) after nearly drowning gets medical help as soon as possible.
Words you need to know
- Suffocated
- died from being unable to breathe
- Resuscitate
- restart breathing or heart b eat by using CPR
- Hypothermia
- body temperature is below normal
What can cause drowning?
Drowning can happen if someone breathes in fluid so that he or she cannot breathe properly. So a person, especially children, babies and people who cannot swim, can drown in any water or fluid, even if there is very little of it, eg. a river, a puddle or even vomit.
How can you tell that someone is drowning?
He or she may:
- be gasping for breath or not breathing
- be unconscious
- have water or other fluid in the mouth, or coming out of the mouth.
- His or her skin will become more and more blue or grey in colour.
- There may be signs that the person could be drowning, eg. he or she may still be in or near water or fluid.
