Posted: 6/7/2012 10:37:45 AM EDT
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As summer is upon us, there are all sorts of stories of kids drowning. I've noticed in several cases over the last few years they have reported the child was successfully resuscitated but later died at the hospital. What happens between the time they are breathing again to dying?
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Quoted:
I had a bellyful of tequila one night and got thrown into a pool...didn't try to come up until a roommate and his buddy jumped in and pulled me out a couple minute later...don't remember much this was 20 years ago...married with kids and 2 minivans now  Just woke up? What a trip! Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
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OP, do you know what someone who is actively drowning really looks like as it happens? I ask because it isn't at all like television, and is why so many kids drown while their parents are ten feet away.
I can post some videos if you'd like more info 
One of the things I put a lot of time into when she was young was drownproofing my daughter. |
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Quoted:
I had a bellyful of tequila one night and got thrown into a pool...didn't try to come up until a roommate and his buddy jumped in and pulled me out a couple minute later...don't remember much this was 20 years ago...married with kids and 2 minivans now So your saying you died and went to hell....
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Quoted: OP, do you know what someone who is actively drowning really looks like as it happens? I ask because it isn't at all like television, and is why so many kids drown while their parents are ten feet away. I can post some videos if you'd like more info One of the things I put a lot of time into when she was young was drownproofing my daughter. This topic comes up from time to time and is worth repeating (Drowning doesn't look like drowning): http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_1_5/1299444_Drowning_Doesn_t_Look_Like_Drowning.html |
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I read once that it's partly dependent on temperature. If one drowns in water cold enough to cause hypothermia - the brain can slow down enough to 'survive' hypoxia if resuscitation happens soon enough. At normal/comfortable ambient temps the brain suffers from the lack of oxygen at a rapid pace, causing brain damage. One may be physically resuscitated to restore nominal (sometimes assisted) life function until the extent of impared brain function is recognized at the E.R. when the decision is made to pull the plug in one form or another. |
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I believe the clinical term is secondary drowning, which occurs after a person's respiratory system is already compromised due to an earlier near drowning event. Essentially what happens is the leftover fluid in the lungs inhibit normal lung function and the patient dies from asphyxiation hours later.
ETA: Essentially pulmonary edema. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
OP, do you know what someone who is actively drowning really looks like as it happens? I ask because it isn't at all like television, and is why so many kids drown while their parents are ten feet away. I can post some videos if you'd like more info
One of the things I put a lot of time into when she was young was drownproofing my daughter. This topic comes up from time to time and is worth repeating (Drowning doesn't look like drowning): http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_1_5/1299444_Drowning_Doesn_t_Look_Like_Drowning.html Thanks Mike, here's a pretty good video clip of someone about to drown Instinctive Drowning Response |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
I had a bellyful of tequila one night and got thrown into a pool...didn't try to come up until a roommate and his buddy jumped in and pulled me out a couple minute later...don't remember much this was 20 years ago...married with kids and 2 minivans now So your saying you died and went to hell.... now that you put it that way 
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Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: OP, do you know what someone who is actively drowning really looks like as it happens? I ask because it isn't at all like television, and is why so many kids drown while their parents are ten feet away. I can post some videos if you'd like more info One of the things I put a lot of time into when she was young was drownproofing my daughter. This topic comes up from time to time and is worth repeating (Drowning doesn't look like drowning): http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_1_5/1299444_Drowning_Doesn_t_Look_Like_Drowning.html Thanks Mike, here's a pretty good video clip of someone about to drown Instinctive Drowning Response Good stuff, I sent both of those links to my local news stations, hopefully they can spread the word. |
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To partially answer your question, if water gets in the lungs it washes out the surfactants that keep the alveoli from sticking shut. So you can get someone out of the water and even get them breathing on their own, but they may not be able to reinflate their lungs all the way. Reading about near drowning you'll see the word "syndrome" used a lot, which tells you it isn't well understood.
I'd actually like to hear what our emergency medicine guys have to say. |
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Quoted:
I believe the clinical term is secondary drowning, which occurs after a person's respiratory system is already compromised due to an earlier near drowning event. Essentially what happens is the leftover fluid in the lungs inhibit normal lung function and the patient dies from asphyxiation hours later. ETA: Essentially pulmonary edema. I will start a new thread on Drowning from a medical point of view because its is most of us in the Trauma Worlds worst nightmare. But without answering the OP's question right now, Ill throw out a little PSA based on this. Most drowning victims drown twice, ALL SALTWATER VICTIMS WILL DROWN A SECOND TIME EVEN IF YOUR ARE ABLE TO RESCUE THEM. ALL VICTIMS OF SALWATER DROWNING INCIDENTS NEED TO GO TO AN EMERGENCY ROOM! The way my department teachs it is with some compromise in the hope that people actually follow this advice. If you are out on a boat having a great time in the sun, women booze whatever and someone goes under but is quickly rescued, even if they swear that they are ok which they will do, your day is over and you need to get back on land. We know with the price of copays and ED visits that many people are extremely reluctant to go to the hospital unless its a case of a true emergency. Thats ok, instead I beg that you do this, take the person to the hospital, buy a copy of the paper or a magazine and just sit in the waiting room of the ER for a good hour. If after an hour everyone is feeling fine then go home all is well. If they start having trouble breathing tell the admitting RN that the person had a drowning incident earlier and is in respitory distress. It is now once again a true emergency |
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Quoted: Quoted: I believe the clinical term is secondary drowning, which occurs after a person's respiratory system is already compromised due to an earlier near drowning event. Essentially what happens is the leftover fluid in the lungs inhibit normal lung function and the patient dies from asphyxiation hours later. ETA: Essentially pulmonary edema. I will start a new thread on Drowning from a medical point of view because its is most of us in the Trauma Worlds worst nightmare. But without answering the OP's question right now, Ill throw out a little PSA based on this. Most drowning victims drown twice, ALL SALTWATER VICTIMS WILL DROWN A SECOND TIME EVEN IF YOUR ARE ABLE TO RESCUE THEM. ALL VICTIMS OF SALWATER DROWNING INCIDENTS NEED TO GO TO AN EMERGENCY ROOM! The way my department teachs it is with some compromise in the hope that people actually follow this advice. If you are out on a boat having a great time in the sun, women booze whatever and someone goes under but is quickly rescued, even if they swear that they are ok which they will do, your day is over and you need to get back on land. We know with the price of copays and ED visits that many people are extremely reluctant to go to the hospital unless its a case of a true emergency. Thats ok, instead I beg that you do this, take the person to the hospital, buy a copy of the paper or a magazine and just sit in the waiting room of the ER for a good hour. If after an hour everyone is feeling fine then go home all is well. If they start having trouble breathing tell the admitting RN that the person had a drowning incident earlier and is in respitory distress. It is now once again a true emergency If you can post a link in this thread to your drowning thread when you make it I would appreciate it, just to make sure I don't miss it. Thanks! |
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Quoted:
To partially answer your question, if water gets in the lungs it washes out the surfactants that keep the alveoli from sticking shut. So you can get someone out of the water and even get them breathing on their own, but they may not be able to reinflate their lungs all the way. Reading about near drowning you'll see the word "syndrome" used a lot, which tells you it isn't well understood. I'd actually like to hear what our emergency medicine guys have to say. You are definitely correct that a lot of drowning science is still not well understood, The answers to the OP's question is a response that's abotu a mile long worth of problems, but in the short term it is often more of a danger due to secondary edema due to the leftover chemical or salt content causing an osmotic issue which will naturally reinflate the lungs with liquid via diffusion. This of course is all assuming that there are no secondary injuries or trauma which of there almost always is. the long term like I said is a mile long, but after that, your blood chemistry is absolutely shot to pure effing hell which can become a major problem. but that is just one in a very long list of issues. If you have children I beg you to make sure they are taught to swim, if you have a pool build it up like for knox and alarm it. Learn how to treat a drowning victim (its a very basic skill) and like previously mentioned if you do spend time in the water in some capacity, you need to know how to properly recognize a swimmer in distress and be trained on how to properly rescue them. It is not something that can be undertaken without training. Im sure there are people much more expert here than me but I will definatley let you know about the thread . Thanks for bringing this up, It really is an awful issue with children and pools every single summer. |