Dry Drowning Summer #Swim

How was your 4th of July?

Mine was interesting…

We attended a big local parade in Severna Park, MD. It’s at least an hour or so long and shows off some of the best floats, cars, horses, people etc. in our area. (eh, my opinion.) I love it. The only thing I don’t love is getting up early to be there…wah.

Here are some of my personal favorites from parade day…

(PS The boys did a great job holding that position for a very long time!)

Then we went to the pool…

Now, I will welcome you to my paranoid world.

My girlfriend sent me an article on dry drowning. Ever heard of it? Well, I’m a person that has to read a topic as much as possible so I spent some good old quality time looking this up.  My family already calls me “over protective” and I say well, I’ve been called worst. I’m a mom. It’s my job.

Girlfriend sends me this article (click here) with all these fun filled facts about dry drowning.

It says some of the warning signs are:

• difficulty breathing
• extreme tiredness
• changes in behavior due to lack of oxygen in the brain

After I read this, I started to research as much as I could to my surprise, I only found a few articles.

So what is DRY DROWNING?

According to Wikipedia:

Dry drowning occurs when a person’s lungs become unable to extract oxygen from the air, due primarily to:

• Muscular paralysis
• Puncture wound to the torso (affecting ability of diaphragm to create respiratory movement)
• Changes to the oxygen-absorbing tissues
• Persistence of laryngospasm when immersed in fluid
• Prolonged exposure to a gas that displaces oxygen from the lungs (e.g. methane)
• Overdose of solute free water which leads to hyponatremia and swelling in the brain
• Holding one’s breath (Apnea)

The person may effectively drown without any sort of liquid. In cases of dry drowning in which the victim was immersed, very little fluid is aspirated into the lungs. The laryngospasm reflex essentially causes asphyxiation and neurogenic pulmonary edema^[1] (œdema).

Dry drowning can occur clinically, or due to illness or accident. It is also one of the effects of waterboarding.

BE on the look out for signs within 24 hours of incident!

“According to the Centers for Disease Control, some 3,600 people drowned in 2005, the most recent year for which there are statistics. Some 10 to 15 percent of those deaths was classified as “dry drowning,” which can occur up to 24 hours after a small amount of water gets into the lungs. In children, that can happen during a bath.” – Taken from A Pediatrician’s Blog in 2008

But wait…did you know that there’s also “delayed drowning.” Yup.

While my husband and daughter were in this 36″ small pool (filled with chlorine) I saw my daughter go down, then up, then back down again. I swear I stopped breathing myself. My husband, right next to her, immediately pulled her up and I grabbed her from outside the pool. She didn’t make a noise that I recall. She started coughing a few seconds after I walked away and then she vomited. A lot.

Being Mama, this completely freaked me out. The whole incident frightened me as well as her.

I kept a very close eye on her for the next twenty-four hours. I even slept with her and watched her breathe all throughout the night. She lost her breath twice and coughed. She wasn’t sleeping. She would roll over from side to side.

And then there was me, over-protective, paranoid mama, watching belly up, belly down. Talk about a long night for both of us! I’m sure she was wondering why I was sleeping with her in there in the first place!

No, she didn’t have 20-30 minute persistent coughing, but she still choked in her sleep twice. No, she wasn’t tired. On the contrary, it was probably the worst night sleep we’ve both had in a while and yet I was still uncomfortable with the whole situation. How was I to know? Where were my motherly instincts? So I took her to the doctors first thing in the morning.

After being examined, the doc said, “Well, she does have crust around her nose but I think she just gave you a really good scare, Mom. Her lungs are clear. Keep an eye on her for the next few days and call if there are any more concerns.”

I could have hugged the doctor for saying those relieving words to me.

So I’m still a “paranoid” mama, that won’t change and I’m okay with that. Good news, my daughter is okay. I just wanted to pass the information along so you are aware as well. Who knew the numbers were really so high yet dry drowning and delayed drowning are rarely heard of. (Or is this just in my world?) Call me over protective but I rather be safe than sorry!

Arm yourself with knowledge! Here are some facts on Unintentional Drownings by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Please, enjoy your summer safely!