Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

How to know when someone is in trouble in the water

mobile.slate.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 119 posts

Re: How to know when someone is in trouble in the water

#11

Post by clarkmoody »

antoko wrote: post #9
clarkmoody wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Better yet, get a stick or rope and pull them to safety. They will grab onto whatever is within their grasp.

did you mean to contradict the article or did you not even read it? Throughout the Instinctive Drowning Response, drowning people cannot voluntarily control their arm movements. Physiologically, drowning people who are struggling on the surface of the water cannot stop drowning and perform voluntary movements such as waving for help, moving toward a rescuer, or reaching out for a piece of rescue equipment.

I've had water rescue training. I read the article as well.

Parent comment was addressing a drowning person victimizing the rescuer, which also seems to contradict the article.

Re: How to know when someone is in trouble in the water

#12

Post by surfearth »

antoko wrote: post #9
clarkmoody wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Better yet, get a stick or rope and pull them to safety. They will grab onto whatever is within their grasp.

did you mean to contradict the article or did you not even read it? Throughout the Instinctive Drowning Response, drowning people cannot voluntarily control their arm movements. Physiologically, drowning people who are struggling on the surface of the water cannot stop drowning and perform voluntary movements such as waving for help, moving toward a rescuer, or reaching out for a piece of rescue equipment.

Both the article and the previous commenter are correct. People in late stages of drowning can't swim toward you, but they certainly will grasp on to you when you reach out to rescue them. If this happens, the rescuer will frequently submerge himself and use their legs and arms to forcefully push away from the victim before reengaging from behind. (Source: I was an ocean lifeguard for seven years in high school and college and have experienced this)

Re: How to know when someone is in trouble in the water

#13

Post by b0rsuk »

"""How did this captain know—from 50 feet away—what the father couldn’t recognize from just 10? Drowning is not the violent, splashing call for help that most people expect. The captain was trained to recognize drowning by experts and years of experience. The father, on the other hand, had learned what drowning looks like by watching television. (...) Drowning is almost always a deceptively quiet event."""

I think there should be a law against showing kicking&screaming drowning people in movies. I'm not a fan of censorship otherwise, but here we have a clear case where movies occasionally lead to lost lives.

Re: How to know when someone is in trouble in the water

#15

Post by chrisa »

hluska wrote: post #5
parfe wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A drowning person will endanger his rescuer by instinctively climbing onto the highest point available (the rescuer's head). If you see someone drowning, alert a lifeguard if possible. Depending on the situation, the proper action might require the rescuer to counter intuitively drag the person under water. On the other hand, if no life guard is present, don't just let someone drown, but saving them is a risk. source…

Just curious...let's say that you see someone drowning, you aren't a trained lifeguard, and there aren't any lifeguards around. Could an untrained person rescue that person safely? Any tips?

Try to rescue from afar first - throw a life ring, or anything they can grab on to.

If you must do an in person rescue, always approach from the back. If you come from the front, they'll use you as a "ladder" and climb on you, making it impossible for you to swim.

Re: How to know when someone is in trouble in the water

#17

Post by swombat »

antoko wrote: post #9
clarkmoody wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Better yet, get a stick or rope and pull them to safety. They will grab onto whatever is within their grasp.

did you mean to contradict the article or did you not even read it? Throughout the Instinctive Drowning Response, drowning people cannot voluntarily control their arm movements. Physiologically, drowning people who are struggling on the surface of the water cannot stop drowning and perform voluntary movements such as waving for help, moving toward a rescuer, or reaching out for a piece of rescue equipment.

Throughout the Instinctive Drowning Response, drowning people cannot voluntarily control their arm movements. Physiologically, drowning people who are struggling on the surface of the water cannot stop drowning and perform voluntary movements such as waving for help, moving toward a rescuer, or reaching out for a piece of rescue equipment.

They won't reach out for it, but if it happens to be within their reach they'll grab it.

Re: How to know when someone is in trouble in the water

#18

Post by kaoD »

I can confirm the article. Almost drowned once in a river: I let myself go with the current and, once I tried swimming back, realized I accidentally went into strong currents.

I tried swimming harder, but eventually got tired and sunk. Despite my friends being about 20/30 meters away from me, they didn't realize I was drowning. I couldn't scream for help nor do anything but trying to stick my head out and breathe. I couldn't stay afloat long enough to cause any water splash either.

Fortunately I touched a rock that was sticking out from the bottom with my foot and stood there for a bit to recover and go back.

Be careful this summer!

Re: How to know when someone is in trouble in the water

#20

Post by mikeryan »

ender7 wrote: post #6

Beware: it is very dangerous to attempt to rescue a full-grown person who is drowning. A person who is drowning has temporarily lost their mind and will happily drown their would-be rescuer in an attempt to stay above the water. Approach a drowning person from behind and hold them above the water by their armpits.

Approach a drowning person from behind and hold them above the water by their armpits

Unless you're a trained lifeguard this is poor advice. As stated above you don't want to get within touching/grabbing distance of a drowning person. Get some sort of intermediary between you and them, a stick, rope, shirt, pants whatever. Something that you can drop if you are at risk.

To the point below about their instincts of not grabbing it. Don't leave it out where they need to reach for it. Hit them in the head or arms with the stick or piece of clothing and they'll grab it. My first few pool rescues with a lifebouy I'd leave it within their grasp and they'd not grab it. If I hit them in the head or hands with it they'd grab it every time.

Post reply on HN