RNLI float to live.

[capnsensible]

This is worth a look I reckon, in view of the recent UK drownings. Also amongst a boating community that may have lost the old sea legs a bit over the last 18 months.

How to 'float to live' if you fall into water

 

[Davy_S]

Although it is very good advice, the problem is, if you can swim you should already know this, if you cannot swim then most people would panic and the last thing they would attempt to do is to try to float, it is difficult when you are teaching someone to swim, to get them to float with confidence, most drowners thrash about

 

[V1701]

Although it is very good advice, the problem is, if you can swim you should already know this, if you cannot swim then most people would panic and the last thing they would attempt to do is to try to float, it is difficult when you are teaching someone to swim, to get them to float with confidence, most drowners thrash about

Absolutely, even a competent and confident swimmer will struggle to float like that straight off the bat. To also say if you need to do a bit of gentle treading water you can do that as well, without actually expalining or showing it, is of little use...

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Absolutely, even a competent and confident swimmer will struggle to float like that straight off the bat. To also say if you need to do a bit of gentle treading water you can do that as well, without actually expalining or showing it, is of little use...

Also assumes that people will float! I float fairly easily, but my late wife who was very small and spare built couldn't float without swimming, at least, not with her nose above water! And if I breathe out, I sink... Not everyone has a BMI that permits floating.

 

[Daydream believer]

When I started out at about 10 years of age, I could not swim & was frightened. Someone taught me to float & that eventually gave me confidence to do a backstroke then learn to swim. When dinghy sailing I often capsized & if i did a lot of them- Regularly capsized up to 15 times, last did it 3 years ago in my phantom- I would get exhausted so just float & wait for club safety boat rather than exhaust myself completely.Particularly if separated from the boat. Often did that when sailboarding.

 

[KeelsonGraham]

Although it is very good advice, the problem is, if you can swim you should already know this, if you cannot swim then most people would panic and the last thing they would attempt to do is to try to float, it is difficult when you are teaching someone to swim, to get them to float with confidence, most drowners thrash about

Apparently not. According to a recent newspaper article, most drowners are very, very quiet and slip under with nobody noticing. Thrashing about is, apparently, a common misperception - hence the reason why people frequently drown even when surrounded by others.

 

[graham]

Moving their hands as if trying to climb a non existent ladder is one sign a person is close to going under.

 

[PembrokeshirePromise]

Apparently not. According to a recent newspaper article, most drowners are very, very quiet and slip under with nobody noticing. Thrashing about is, apparently, a common misperception - hence the reason why people frequently drown even when surrounded by others.

This is very true - frighteningly so at times.

Drowning is almost always a deceptively quiet event

 

[westhinder]

Apparently not. According to a recent newspaper article, most drowners are very, very quiet and slip under with nobody noticing. Thrashing about is, apparently, a common misperception - hence the reason why people frequently drown even when surrounded by others.

I can confirm this from recent experience. I saw a man being pulled from the pontoon by his boat and fall in. He didn’t thrash about, in fact he didn ‘t struggle at all, he just went under. If my wife hadn’t succeeded in grabbing his hand, he would have been lost, as the tide was rushing through the pontoons ( it was in Tréguier). When we had pulled him from the water, it turned out he had a heavy smell of alcohol about him.

 

[dgadee]

Seems to me a lot of the drownings are where they are pissed, as Westhinder notes.

 

[dom]

Swimming with my kids in a holiday pool a few years back with people all around.

Noticed a form about 6‘ down, just suspended in the water. Dived down and pulled up a 13yr old child.

Coughed massively, lots of water came up, then recovered.

Parents were shocked, even more shocked that we called 911 for fear of secondary drowning.

Nobody had noticed - no alcohol involved

 

[Wansworth]

Is swimming still part of school curriculum,we used to practice in the school hall sitting on chairs later mornings at the baths in Hounslow

 

[JumbleDuck]

Parents were shocked, even more shocked that we called 911 for fear of secondary drowning.

Without any desire to criticise your caution, there is a lot of unnecessary fear about both "dry" and "secondary" drowning.

Dry drowning and secondary drowning: know the warning signs

 

[Pye_End]

Although it is very good advice, the problem is, if you can swim you should already know this, if you cannot swim then most people would panic and the last thing they would attempt to do is to try to float, it is difficult when you are teaching someone to swim, to get them to float with confidence, most drowners thrash about

Not really. The item is more about cold water shock. Even if you have had swimming lessons you may not be aware of this. Many people learn to swim without swimming lessons, so even if it is part of a formal program, it won't reach all. Doubt whether teaching kids at a young age about cold water shock will take that information in, digest and remember it.

 

[Bru]

. Doubt whether teaching kids at a young age about cold water shock will take that information in, digest and remember it.

There's no better age to teach kids!

Provided the information is presented in a simple, understandable form, a young age is just when nature has programmed us to learn best - especially when it comes to things that will keep us alive

 

[capnsensible]

 

[capnsensible]

There are a lot of YouTube articles on the subject of cold water immersion under the heading cold water boot camp.

These people absolutely know exactly what the problem is and how to deal with it. True experts, not armchair critics!

Having had a couple of careers afloat, I've been required to undertake training in this stuff. The cold water boot camp series is the best I've seen and I've no hesitation in recommending it. Of course I understand pleasure sailors don't need a full on training regime but a few minutes spent with cwbc may be of help, skipper, crew or bystander at an incident one day.

Up to you. ?

 

[Mark-1]

There's no better age to teach kids!

Yup.

My kids have spent from before they could walk dicking about on the water all year round. I doubt they could vocalize it but they certainly know what falling into cold water feels like and I doubt they'll forget it - For instance my 5yo lad knows exactly how many times he's fallen in - he bragged to a stranger about it yesterday.

It was our SC youth week recently the kids spent an afternoon jumping off the pontoon for fun as part of the week's activities. It wasn't cold (wasn't hot either) but I'm pretty sure if any of them end up in the water at 2am they'll be less prone to panic.

I suspect the real problem isn't failure to remember but familiarity lowering their levels of caution.

when nature has programmed us to learn best - especially when it comes to things that will keep us alive

Agree. When I was ~8 I went in the drink off a boat with enough freeboard that I couldn't reach so I had to sort myself out finding another way out. More years than I'm willing to admit later I did it again. Even after that long gap I immediately thought "Yup, been here before" and knew exactly what to do. A useful skill to pick up youngish rather than wait until I'm of an age where I secretly fear next Saturday's Parkrun might be the one that stops my heart!

 

[Mark-1]

Without any desire to criticise your caution, there is a lot of unnecessary fear about both "dry" and "secondary" drowning.

Dry drowning and secondary drowning: know the warning signs

Every day's a school day.

 

[dom]

Without any desire to criticise your caution, there is a lot of unnecessary fear about both "dry" and "secondary" drowning.

Dry drowning and secondary drowning: know the warning signs

Just read it and - in my personal opinion - the article is a bit misleading. For sure, the symptoms days and weeks later are overblown in parts of the media.

However, in terms of practicalities, the article goes on to quote the Red Cross:

"A life-threatening condition could potentially occur if someone has been partially submerged in water and rescued, but if at some point subsequent to that, a small amount of water will have entered their lungs. "This causes inflammation or swelling and makes it harder for the lungs to function," says Joe Mulligan, head of first aid education at the British Red Cross. ​

​

They can also develop a condition called aspiration pneumonia as a consequence of germs in the water.​

​

But it's a myth that drowning deaths can occur days or weeks after the incident with no preceeding symptoms, according to the American Red Cross."​

​

So, the long and short of it is that new symptoms are unlikely to emerge days or weeks later, but there is a REAL RISK that the distress/symptoms following a near drowning may deteriorate into something nasty over the next few hours.

I'm not a doctor and I'd still rather they make that call not me!