Uh, that's literally exactly how the article describes it. > Drowning people cannot wave for help. Nature instinctively forces them to extend their arms latera

Uh, that's literally exactly how the article describes it. > 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. > 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. > Look for these other signs of drowning when persons are in the water: ... Appear to be climbing an invisible ladder. > Sometimes the most common indication that someone is drowning is that they don’t look like they’re drowning. They may just look like they are treading water and looking up at the deck.