"Drowning Doesn't Look Like Drowning"

[lafinfil]

Pam wrote:
I was a lifeguard for a number of years. I could spot trouble before it became bad.

Two of my nephews were life guards last summer and are doing it again this summer. I was amazed at the number of times they pulled kids out - usually several times a week. I had no idea it happened that often.

[rz]

Thanks. My son is just now learning to swim.

[mrlynn]

My daughter also posted this story:

This is so true and yet so unintuitive. The year before last I had Miles (around 19 months or so) in an inground kiddie pool with a bunch of other parents and small children. The water was a little over his waist and he was enjoying himself.... I turned around for something and when I turned back he was bent forward at the waist with his arms out to the sides and his face in the water. His feet were still firmly planted on the bottom of the pool. He was not moving or struggling. Luckily I and several other parents noticed and pulled him out and he was fine (just scared). But it was amazing that he was unable to just... stand up. It was like his body had no idea what to do.

Exactly what the article says happens.

/Mr Lynn

[OWC Jamie]

I've jumped in and pulled my own daughter out.

First observation/thought -" wow, she's getting real good at floating and holding her breath"
immediate second observation/thought. "Oh, :censor: " !

not any more than 10/15 feet away in 18 inches or so of fresh clear pond water
luckily lungs cleared with a gentle squeeze while still stepping ashore.
She really didn't know what happened except : " it was just like falling asleep".

[prymsnap]

billb wrote:
I've jumped in and pulled my own daughter out.

First observation/thought -" wow, she's getting real good at floating and holding her breath"
immediate second observation/thought. "Oh, :censor: " !

not any more than 10/15 feet away in 18 inches or so of fresh clear pond water
luckily lungs cleared with a gentle squeeze while still stepping ashore.
She really didn't know what happened except : " it was just like falling asleep".

Holy crap!

[RgrF]

mrlynn wrote:
And if you don't recognize it, you may be too late: you've got only 30-60 seconds!

My daughter posted this on her Facebook page:

http://mariovittone.com/2010/05/154/

Read it!

/Mr Lynn

As an 8 or 9 year- old who had not yet learned to swim, I would visit the local Boys Club to use the pool. We were Boston adjacent - no backyard pools then. It was typical of most pools with a shallow 3 foot end leading to a diving board depth of ?

Anyway on this particular occasion I was alone and just bobbing along facing the shallow end. Without knowing it I was drifting toward the pool slope that increased water depth quicker than a 9 year old could imagine or deal with. Once on the down slope I was absolutely helpless to stop that slide and ended up totally under water.

Just as Mr. Lynn's linked article described, there was no thrashing or visible sign (except to the life guard who pulled me out) and I'm quite sure in a pond, lake or ocean setting the results would have been quite different.

My motivation could not have been stronger, I was swimming like a fish within three weeks.

[RAMd®d]

A co-worker wanted the day off to go with his wife and soon to a family picnic. But too many people were already off and he had to work.

His son, about 7, was playing in a full size swimming pool. There was no lifeguard on duty, and signs were posted to that effect. NObody was really watching the water and one of the kids in the pool told her father that she couldn't find her friend.

The dad dived in and found the boy. It was heartbreaking.

The family split up, I guess much of it was about blaming the other party. Truly heartbreaking.

My buddy's three girls have all been Jr. Red Cross lifeguards and full time (during the summer) life guards and swim like dolphins (no, not literally). All three have "saves" , that is getting to kids and adults much bigger than them before anything really bad happens.

[N-OS X-tasy!]

RgrF wrote:
As an 8 or 9 year- old who had not yet learned to swim, I would visit the local Boys Club to use the pool. We were Boston adjacent - no backyard pools then.

When I was ten years old I earned my Red Cross Basic Swimming certification at the L Street Bathhouse in Southie.

That was the summer Jaws came out. I had the poor sense to go see the movie while enrolled in the class - subsequent sessions of class were far less enjoyable.

[RgrF]

N-OS X-tasy! wrote:

When I was ten years old I earned my Red Cross Basic Swimming certification at the L Street Bathhouse in Southie.

That was the summer Jaws came out. I had the poor sense to go see the movie while enrolled in the class - subsequent sessions of class were far less enjoyable.

Mine was earned in Charlestown, same place I got pulled from the water, it was an interesting place if you weren't from the area. Every third visit or so I'd end up running for my life to the elevated Thompson Sq. "T" station with a buch of locals in hot pursuit. It was like a game of “Olly, Olly Oxen Free”, if I made the station before they caught me they'd back off.

They never did catch me.