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In regard to 3... How do you know when the drowning person is unconscious... that would be when they dip under and don't come back up? They're lungs would be fu

by superk 16y ago

In regard to 3... How do you know when the drowning person is unconscious... that would be when they dip under and don't come back up? They're lungs would be full of water then? So you would have to swim down to them, pull them to dry land (they won't float) and resuscitate them? I understand sometimes that could be the only option... but seems like a heavy responsibility.

kelnos 16y ago
> but seems like a heavy responsibility. When in a dangerous situation, your first responsibility is to yourself. Rescuing someone else can be risky, and getting yourself into the same situation as the person in trouble helps no one, and increases the burden on any other would-be rescuers, whether professional (lifeguard, fire fighter, etc.) or another Good Samaritan like yourself. But I agree that it seems like waiting for the drowning person to become unconscious dramatically increases the chance that they won't survive. That's gotta be a tough decision to make.
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
- Pistos2 16y ago
  [My First Aid training tells me that] although brain death occurs in just a few minutes once the brain ceases to get oxygen supplied to it, if CPR is applied to a casualty, and the casualty can get in an ambulance and into a hospital within an hour or so (the "Golden Hour"), he or she stands a decent chance of surviving. The CPR would provide some oxygen to the brain and the rest of the body (while the ambulance makes its way to the scene), so if you can bring the casualty to shore within 2 or 3 minutes of them going unconscious, there's still reason for optimism. As such, I would say it's not unreasonable to wait for the drowning person to lose consciousness if you aren't confident you could prevent or deal with him or her dragging you down.
  - JshWright 16y ago
    The "Golden Hour" refers to the time it should take to get a trauma patient to a surgical table. The odds of a (non-hypothermic) cardiac arrest patient being viable after an hour are slim to none. However, the good news is that drownings are one of the few times where Hollywood-style CPR "Do a couple rounds and they wake up" can occur. Their heart stopped beating because it stopped getting oxygen, not due to some other type of damage. So if you do CPR for a little while and get their heart oxygenated again, it can start back up in its own (most pools nowadays have an AED as well)
btilly 16y ago
How do you know when the drowning person is unconscious Wait for their hands to stop moving. that would be when they dip under and don't come back up? They're lungs would be full of water then? So you would have to swim down to them, pull them to dry land (they won't float) and resuscitate them? They won't sink at this point, they'll just float with their face in the water. (There is a reason why the dead man's float is called that. See http://www.ehow.com/how_6582_survival-float.html http://www.ehow.com/how_6582_survival-float.html for a description.) And yes, at this point they'll have water in their lungs, and may need CPR. I understand sometimes that could be the only option... but seems like a heavy responsibility. If you're not trained, then getting in over your head (literally!) is an easy way to commit suicide. I had multiple years of lessons before any instructor gave me any instruction on how to go after someone in the water beyond, "Don't." Now one thing that I didn't talk about was how you can tow someone in the water. If you have any swimming training you may be familiar with the elementary backstroke. (If not, hopefully you know the breaststroke, basically it is a version of that except on your back.) If you continuously do the kick from that, you get the whipkick. (Well to get it right you need to keep the knees a little closer together than many people's breaststroke, but close enough.) It turns out that the kick is enough. Now what you do is lay the person with their head on your chest, your arms coming under their shoulders and crossing their chest, and just do that kick as fast as you can. You won't move very fast, but you can keep both your face and theirs in the air as you go. If you get them early enough, there is a good chance they will start breathing on their own as you tow them. At which point you get them to land and your job is done. If not, you'll get to land alive without having done further damage and can start CPR. (A life skill that I firmly believe everyone should have.)
- superk 16y ago
  They'll only float if their lungs are fully inflated with air (from your link and my own experience). If they've been choking on water and are now drowned (as opposed to drowning) I would assume that's no longer the case.
  - ars 16y ago
    That helps, but fat is lighter than water, so if they have some degree of it they'll float anyway.

by superk 16y ago

kelnos 16y ago

> but seems like a heavy responsibility. When in a dangerous situation, your first responsibility is to yourself. Rescuing someone else can be risky, and getting yourself into the same situation as the person in trouble helps no one, and increases the burden on any other would-be rescuers, whether professional (lifeguard, fire fighter, etc.) or another Good Samaritan like yourself. But I agree that it seems like waiting for the drowning person to become unconscious dramatically increases the chance that they won't survive. That's gotta be a tough decision to make.

deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
Pistos2 16y ago
[My First Aid training tells me that] although brain death occurs in just a few minutes once the brain ceases to get oxygen supplied to it, if CPR is applied to a casualty, and the casualty can get in an ambulance and into a hospital within an hour or so (the "Golden Hour"), he or she stands a decent chance of surviving. The CPR would provide some oxygen to the brain and the rest of the body (while the ambulance makes its way to the scene), so if you can bring the casualty to shore within 2 or 3 minutes of them going unconscious, there's still reason for optimism. As such, I would say it's not unreasonable to wait for the drowning person to lose consciousness if you aren't confident you could prevent or deal with him or her dragging you down.
- JshWright 16y ago
  The "Golden Hour" refers to the time it should take to get a trauma patient to a surgical table. The odds of a (non-hypothermic) cardiac arrest patient being viable after an hour are slim to none. However, the good news is that drownings are one of the few times where Hollywood-style CPR "Do a couple rounds and they wake up" can occur. Their heart stopped beating because it stopped getting oxygen, not due to some other type of damage. So if you do CPR for a little while and get their heart oxygenated again, it can start back up in its own (most pools nowadays have an AED as well)

btilly 16y ago

How do you know when the drowning person is unconscious Wait for their hands to stop moving. that would be when they dip under and don't come back up? They're lungs would be full of water then? So you would have to swim down to them, pull them to dry land (they won't float) and resuscitate them? They won't sink at this point, they'll just float with their face in the water. (There is a reason why the dead man's float is called that. See http://www.ehow.com/how_6582_survival-float.html http://www.ehow.com/how_6582_survival-float.html for a description.) And yes, at this point they'll have water in their lungs, and may need CPR. I understand sometimes that could be the only option... but seems like a heavy responsibility. If you're not trained, then getting in over your head (literally!) is an easy way to commit suicide. I had multiple years of lessons before any instructor gave me any instruction on how to go after someone in the water beyond, "Don't." Now one thing that I didn't talk about was how you can tow someone in the water. If you have any swimming training you may be familiar with the elementary backstroke. (If not, hopefully you know the breaststroke, basically it is a version of that except on your back.) If you continuously do the kick from that, you get the whipkick. (Well to get it right you need to keep the knees a little closer together than many people's breaststroke, but close enough.) It turns out that the kick is enough. Now what you do is lay the person with their head on your chest, your arms coming under their shoulders and crossing their chest, and just do that kick as fast as you can. You won't move very fast, but you can keep both your face and theirs in the air as you go. If you get them early enough, there is a good chance they will start breathing on their own as you tow them. At which point you get them to land and your job is done. If not, you'll get to land alive without having done further damage and can start CPR. (A life skill that I firmly believe everyone should have.)

superk 16y ago
They'll only float if their lungs are fully inflated with air (from your link and my own experience). If they've been choking on water and are now drowned (as opposed to drowning) I would assume that's no longer the case.
- ars 16y ago
  That helps, but fat is lighter than water, so if they have some degree of it they'll float anyway.