Drowning Does Not Look Like it Does in the Movies

Drowning happens so fast. For most there isn't that prolonged period of panic, where arms wave and gulping people scream for help. Those are the scenes so beloved of Hollywood, but they don't describe drowning. Not really. That is the hallmark of Aquatic Distress instead.

Take for example the video below.  At what point do YOU think that the two girls began drowning?

Clue: By the time their highly amused cousin stops encouraging them to splash each other, they're already dead. But would you have realized the danger any sooner?

• Silent.  When people are gasping for air, the last thing they'll do is waste any of it on screaming for help. Besides, their mouths won't be above the water long enough for speech.
• Mouths bobbing. Drowning people rise, then fall, then rise, then fall. Their open mouths alternately under the water, then over the surface. They'll exhale, gasp air, then go under again.
• Head back. Drowning instinctively tilts the head backwards, so that the face can be above the water for as long as possible.
• Hair over face. No-one drowning is bothered about seeing, nor their hair-do. Their locks will become plastered over their eyes and they won't move to shift it.
• Eyes wide and glassy.  Lifeguards have queued up to say that this is the biggest give-away of all. Those in Instinctive Drowning Response are unable to yell, wave or attract attention to save themselves in any other way. But they can show panic in their eyes. If someone's eyes widen and they look scared, they're drowning. If that gaze has gone glassy, then you're closing in fast on too late.  Some will close their eyes, which means you don't get even this tiny tell.
• Upright. Forget the splayed limbs, floating on the surface stance that you see in films. That's directors stopping their actors from really drowning. Real drowners are vertical in the water, like they're standing straight but with no purchase on the depths below. There will be no evidence of them treading water. No supporting kick to keep them heading upwards.
• Climbing an invisible ladder. Another huge giveaway is the bizarre spectacle of an individual apparently attempting to scale water and air, like they're climbing an invisible ladder. Their arms will press laterally on the water surface in order to do this.
• Submersion. It takes just 20-60 seconds from the onset of the Instinctive Drowning Response for a person to submerge and never come back up again.

Somebody who is drowning will instinctively grab anyone and anything in an attempt to lever themselves out of the water. With a strength born of panic, that means that even a child could push a full grown adult underwater and hold them there.

Be very careful before placing yourself within reach of a drowning person. Never, ever approach them from the front.

Here are the steps to saving a drowning person, in order of preference:

1. Talk.  It is ALWAYS alright to ask someone if they are ok. If they don't answer, act.
2. Throw. Find something that floats and chuck it to them. Pools should have a certified piece of kit for this - a ring usually. But if that's not available, then anything buoyant is better than nothing. Throw it to them, so they can grab onto it.
3. Reach.  Brace yourself on the ground, preferably far from the edge of the water (so you're not pulled in yourself), then extend a pole or branch towards them. Once they grab onto it, pull them towards you.
4. Wade.  Enter the water, but keep your distance, in order to get close enough to either throw a floatation aid or reach them with a pole.
5. Row.  Take a boat out to reach them - a canoe or kayak perhaps.  If it's a motorboat, cut the engine before you get close, as the instinct of a drowning person may be to grab the stern, where the motor is.  Keep your distance and use this stable platform to throw or reach. This is bordering upon very risky (it's long past risky), as the drowner won't be able to stop themselves attempting to board the boat, thus capsizing it.
6. Swim.  This might be any rescuer's first instinct, but it should only be attempted by a trained lifeguard. The drowning person WILL grab you and that may well put you into difficulties.  Ideally you will swim close enough to deliver a floatation device from behind.  Lifeguards will always carry something with them to hand to the drowning person. I heard one anecdote where the rescuer - an off-duty lifeguard - took a small twig.  It wasn't going to help keep the individual float, but by grabbing that instinctively, it stopped the person latching onto his rescuer instead.
7. Tow.  Attaching the drowning person in some way - either by getting them to grab a floatation device or, worst case scenario, grasping a handful of hair and going - then swimming back to the shore or edge of the pool.
8. Carry.  This is absolutely the most risky venture of all, and could well be suicide. This involves taking the drowner's full body weight and carrying them back to safety and/or lifting them out of the water.  You saw this in the video above.