Dominating the headlines as of late has been a rash of drownings in and around the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), most recently a 13-year-old boy who, tragically, drowned at home in his backyard while swimming in the family pool.
It’s been a hot, humid summer for the GTA already, and forecasters are predicting more of the same for the rest of the season. My favourite way to cool down on a steamy day is to go for a swim; I’m a strong swimmer, and it’s a skill I’ve made sure my kids have, too. A few days ago, though, I came across an article called Drowning Doesn’t Look Like Drowning, and I realized that I probably wouldn’t recognize a drowning person if I saw them.
And that? Is a scary thought.
From the article: Drowning is not the violent, splashing, call for help that most people expect…drowning is almost always a deceptively quiet event. The waving, splashing, and yelling that dramatic conditioning (television) prepares us to look for, is rarely seen in real life.
It struck me then, after I’d read that last sentence, that I probably WOULD expect a drowning person to splash around and call for help, because that’s what I’m used to – I’ve only ever seen someone drown on a television or movie screen, not in real life. I’d never thought about the fact that a person who is drowning is unable to call or wave for help, therefore makes very little noise. Nor have I given much thought to how quickly someone can become submerged under water – anywhere from 20 to 60 seconds – because I’m conditioned to the Hollywood kind of drowning.
Really: take the time to read Drowning Doesn’t Look Like Drowning. It’s a short article with five life-saving points that will boost your water safety tenfold.
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Bad Moms Are Social