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Drowning After Leaving The Water

May 2, 2018 |

You may recall the “Demystifying Dry Drowning” story from KXAN News that ran on April 30, or have seen your Facebook feed full of the words “dry drowning,” “secondary drowning,” and “delayed drowning” (none of which are medical terms acknowledged by medical professionals). FCB Health NY has launched the website www.notoutofthewater.com in an effort to educate parents and caregivers of the drowning signs and symptoms they need to look for the AFTER LEAVING THE WATER. Colin’s Hope was able to help with the content of the site and FCB Health NY will direct site visitors to www.colinshope.org for general water safety resources and tips. We are so proud to partner with FCB Health to impact more families and children, ultimately preventing more drownings.

Below is the commentary we wrote to help simplify the definition of drowning after leaving the water, signs and symptoms of drowning and our most basic water safety tip: Watch Kids Around Water.

“Drowning is a process with multiple outcomes (Fatal,non-fatal with injury/illness and non-fatal without injury/illness). The medical definition of drowning is defined as “respiratory impairment from submersion/immersion in liquid” (Hawkings, Semprsrott & Schmidt).

The drowning process begins in water and the outcome can occur in water (as in most cases) or it can occur after leaving the water (as in some cases that have been recently described as dry, secondary or delayed drowning).

There are signs and symptoms in drownings that people need to look for after leaving the water if a person has experienced some type of water related incident (inhaling water, choking on water). Some of these signs are: trouble breathing, chest pain, persistent coughing, vomiting, foam around the mouth, low energy, extreme sleepiness, acting unusual and irritability. If you see these signs in your child, seek medical help immediately.

Bottom line: Watch Kids around water, Keep them in Arm’s Reach. If you do this, you will see a drowning incident as it happens and be able to react – either to rescue or watch for symptoms that may occur after leaving the water.

Thank you again for your attention to our mission to raise water safety awareness to prevent drowning. Together, we can achieve the vision of world where no child drowns.


NEWS ARTICLE: “What you need to know about ‘dry drowning,'” KXAN News

FCB HEALTH & COLIN’S HOPE CAMPAIGN: Not Out Of The Water