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I'm somewhat confused about how the Red Cross is involved with shallow water hypoxia... could you clarify? Also, now I'm curious about "drown proofing," if you

I'm somewhat confused about how the Red Cross is involved with shallow water hypoxia... could you clarify? Also, now I'm curious about "drown proofing," if you wouldn't mind elaborating!

foxyv 2y ago
The only drown proofing I can think of is what the Navy Seals do in BUDs. They tie their hands behind their back and their legs together and then pop up for air when they need it. It's a lot harder for those guys because their body fat percentage is microscopic so they sink like rocks. They would probably have to give me a couple pounds of lead to sink properly... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Pe3L5OcAEg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Pe3L5OcAEg
mcswell 2y ago
Sorry, I didn't see your question before. I think there's an article in wikipedia about it, but from what I recall: there were studies that said most people drown in water just over their head, not in deep water. Drown proofing was a technique where you held your breath, and sank. I'm not sure how that was supposed to work, since most people are positively buoyant, especially if they take a deep breath--something about kicking up so your shoulders came out of the water, and then you sank down at first from the weight of the part of your body above water, and then the rest of the way from momentum. When you hit the bottom, you kicked off with your body angled toward shore. Rinse and repeat, until you were in water where you could stand up. What's wrong with that? Lake and river bottoms (and ocean beaches) can have troughs, you could easily wind up in water too deep to do this. And if you can kick enough to get your shoulders out of the water, why not just use your arms to propel yourself toward shore? It just seemed like teaching people a simple stroke (like breast, side or back--anything but crawl) would be easier and safer. But then I fail to understand how people drown because they get caught in rip currents. Getting out of one is so easy.

I'm somewhat confused about how the Red Cross is involved with shallow water hypoxia... could you clarify? Also, now I'm curious about "drown proofing," if you wouldn't mind elaborating!

foxyv 2y ago

The only drown proofing I can think of is what the Navy Seals do in BUDs. They tie their hands behind their back and their legs together and then pop up for air when they need it. It's a lot harder for those guys because their body fat percentage is microscopic so they sink like rocks. They would probably have to give me a couple pounds of lead to sink properly... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Pe3L5OcAEg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Pe3L5OcAEg

mcswell 2y ago

Sorry, I didn't see your question before. I think there's an article in wikipedia about it, but from what I recall: there were studies that said most people drown in water just over their head, not in deep water. Drown proofing was a technique where you held your breath, and sank. I'm not sure how that was supposed to work, since most people are positively buoyant, especially if they take a deep breath--something about kicking up so your shoulders came out of the water, and then you sank down at first from the weight of the part of your body above water, and then the rest of the way from momentum. When you hit the bottom, you kicked off with your body angled toward shore. Rinse and repeat, until you were in water where you could stand up. What's wrong with that? Lake and river bottoms (and ocean beaches) can have troughs, you could easily wind up in water too deep to do this. And if you can kick enough to get your shoulders out of the water, why not just use your arms to propel yourself toward shore? It just seemed like teaching people a simple stroke (like breast, side or back--anything but crawl) would be easier and safer. But then I fail to understand how people drown because they get caught in rip currents. Getting out of one is so easy.