Read This If You Are Concerned About Dry Drowning
Earlier this month, a child died a week after allegedly drawing water while walking with his family. The media called it a case of “dry drowning,” also called “secondary” or “delayed” drowning, in which a person appears healthy at first after inhaling water, but then dies after a few hours or days.
Now this is just horror – no one argues with this. But along with the horror of this story, there has been a certain amount of misinformation and fear-mongering in the media, which various pediatricians and emergency doctors are now trying to suppress. This is done not only to educate the public about the very real risks of drowning, but also to educate people about first aid and medical interventions, and so that we all use the same terminology when we talk about drowning.
I came across this post by pediatrician Catherine Hensley, in which she gives what she calls a “dry drowning reality check”:
“In short, your child is not going to swim, swallow water, have no problems in the water, and then suddenly die without warning after 4 days from ‘dry drowning’. I know the stories you’ve read, they are also in my news feed. I know how the thought of losing a baby gives you real physical chest pain because it does the same to me … But I don’t want the world’s children to never go to the water again because their parents were scared. poorly crafted Facebook article. “
She disagrees with the lack of distinction in the media between the words “swallowed” and “aspirated”, for example:
The swallowed water enters the esophagus and travels down the digestive tract. Swallowing chlorinated pool water may cause vomiting, but will not result in death from sudden pulmonary edema. ASPIRATION is when water enters the trachea and descends into the lungs. In this case, the patient in question will have an episode of distress after leaving (or being pulled) out of the water. You will see this and KNOW they are not okay.
She also notes ( like this post by Seth Collins Hawkins et al ., MD ) that there is no medically accepted definition of “dry drowning” or even “secondary” or “delayed” drowning. There is only drowning, which in the medical world can be fatal, non-fatal, or non-fatal due to illness / injury.
Drowning is undoubtedly the leading cause of infant death, but the fear of “drowning with delayed mortality” (which is usually referred to when talking about dry drowning), as Dr. Hensley puts it, is exaggerated. Hawkins note (comfortingly) that while experiencing symptoms after drowning is fairly common, it is rare for these “minimally symptomatic” cases to progress to death. As for observing these symptoms, he says:
However, they can certainly get worse or worse, which is why we recommend that people seek help immediately when warning signs such as chest pain appear. Warning signs of drowning are immersion in water or immersion followed by shortness of breath, excessive coughing, foam in the mouth, and disruption of normal behavior.
But in the end, the terminology is not the most important thing, which, obviously, is how to prevent this from happening at all. Controlling your children goes beyond just looking at them: ER doctors call for sensory observation that funds are always within the reach of the child’s hand, even when a lifeguard is present. Every child should be assigned an adult – it’s too easy to think, “Oh, there are 10 adults, someone will notice if the child starts to drown”, because in fact they may not notice.
Also, teach your kids to swim at the right age and learn about cardiopulmonary resuscitation. And don’t be intimidated by the media when you’re having a good time at the beach.