It happened in the pool at the condominium complex where I used to live, on the day we traditionally think of as the start of summer, Memorial Day. Everywhere there was a pool people gathered to try to get out of the heat. One of those people, a ten-year-old girl, was visiting a pool where relatives lived. She was one of seventy or eighty people who crowded into a small pool protected by a single lifeguard. There was no clear explanation of how it happened. In fact, there were conflicting stories from many different sources.
I am sure judges and lawyers and insurance people will eventually sort out all the facts, at least to satisfy their own needs, but one thing is clear: a child drowned in a guarded pool. Think about that for a moment.
When I did, I got angry. How could this be, I thought. In a small pool, filled with adults, watched by a trained lifeguard, how could a little girl die? I could imagine someone climbing over a fence at night and drowning while no one was there to help. I could imagine a toddler wandering into a backyard and falling into an unprotected pool.
I could imagine someone having a heart attack, someone diving in and sustaining a spine injury. Yet I could not fathom a way for a child to drown in such a place. My anger led me to start asking questions and start looking for answers. What is drowning? Pulmonary edema is a condition in which the lungs fill with fluid. Many people say that infant swimming can have many benefits.
Are there any risks? Should they take lessons? Here are the answers. Take these steps when cooling off this summer. An incentive spirometer is a device that can help you strengthen your lungs. Learn how it works, who it helps, and where to get one. Belly or abdominal breathing offers a number of benefits for health and well-being. Health Conditions Discover Plan Connect.
Drowning Facts and Safety Precautions. Medically reviewed by Kevin Martinez, M. How much water does it take to drown? Stages of drowning. Drowning prevention and water safety. Read this next. Medically reviewed by Debra Rose Wilson, Ph. Medically reviewed by Stacy Sampson, D. Brain Hypoxia. Medically reviewed by Seunggu Han, M. What Is Dry Drowning? A death by drowning is supposed to be frightening. Movies invariably show unhappy victims sinking wide-eyed beneath the waves, thrashing in vain for a breath.
Comic books whisper of legions of vengeful pirate zombies at the bottom of every inlet and harbor, knives held between slimy teeth, hands free to clutch and drag the guilty down. Many who've been rescued and resuscitated complain of panic and terror as they sank below the waves.
Overprotective parents keep an eye on poolside children, "just in case. But wait one minute! Ask anyone unlucky enough to die who died another way, and you might hear some remarkably different responses.
Not a bad way to go," says the woman who hiked off a cliff in the dark. Quiet and peaceful I wouldn't say no," says the toddler stung to death by Africanized honeybees.
The numbers suggest another reason for the negative press. Drowning prevention is a multi-billion dollar industry. Scuba supply shops depend on repeat, non-drowning customers. Boat repair shops owe their income to keeping watercraft afloat. Manufacturers have successfully lobbied for laws making lifejackets mandatory on everything from powerboats to cruise ships. Toy stores sell water wings for children. The list is endless. Fences around pools. Floating airplane cushions.
When anti-drowning special interest groups dictate public safety policy, good luck finding a public official brave enough to voice an unbiased view.
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